TEFL II Term Paper

Transcription

TEFL II Term Paper

Justus-Liebig-University Gießen
Department of English
S: Storytelling Across Media
Mr. Dale Jones
Seminar, Thursdays 10-12
Winter Term 2012/13
Teaching Written
Non-Fiction in
Storied Lessons
Michael Jaskulski
Grünberger Straße 196
35394 Gießen
[email protected]
Matriculation No. 1091481
Date: 10.04.2013
Michael Jaskulski!
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Teaching Written Non-Fiction in Storied Lessons
Abstract
We take it for granted, thus we may not be aware of the fact that we do actually use stories in our
every day lives as well as in the FLC (Foreign Language Classroom). How and why do we use
stories to teach a language? What are the benefits for the learners?
This paper aims to provide an insight into teaching particularly non-fiction in storied
lessons. Therefore, we will first discuss what stories are and which role they play in both, our every
day lives and in the FLC. From there, we will deal with how non-fiction fits into storied lessons.
Finally, some teaching samples are discussed to illustrate teaching non-fiction in storied lessons.
All material mentioned throughout this paper can be found in the appendix. That includes
the drafts of the lesson samples as well as worksheets and texts.
1
Introduction
When one checks the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (7ᵗʰ edition, 2010) (OAD) for a
definition of a story, they will find the following: “a description of events and people that the writer
or speaker has invented in order to entertain people.” This definition is not wrong, however, it offers
a very limited view on what stories are and what potential they have. A more general definition of
stories is offered by Herman: “Stories are […] a basic human strategy for coming to terms with
time, process and change” (Herman, 2010:1). Telling stories is the eldest form of transmitting
thoughts, beliefs, feelings, situations etc. to other humans of a speech community.
It is indeed remarkable that humans are capable of exchanging thoughts and ideas to one
another via the written word. Reading is an exclusive ability to humans since no other creature is
able to read. Thus, humans are able to capture events with ink and paper and share it with others.
Also, this allows humans to express their fantasies in creating fictional texts. Evidently, human
nature allows us to create stories.
Storytelling might not necessarily noticeably occur to us since we take it for granted and are
therefore not aware of storytelling in our environment. In fact, however, we encounter about 30
narrative events - directly or indirectly - daily, according to Wajnryb (2012:1). Whether it be the
neighbour spreading latest rumours and gossip or the student explaining why he did not do his
homework.
One needs to take to account at this point, that stories are fairly complex features which can
belong to different genres. Thus, a story is not necessarily merely “a description of events and
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people […] invented” - as suggested by the OAD - but can also be non-fictional or factional (this is,
when a story begins non-fictional but becomes more and more fictive towards its end).
Since storytelling plays such a great role in our every-day lives and is an occurrence we take
for granted, it has a massive potential that can be used in the FLC in order to not only improve
language skills such as speaking fluently, writing correctly, understanding the spoken word and
using vocabulary and grammar accordingly, but also to raise the students’ awareness of the presence
of stories and how they can be used.
This paper primarily focusses on how to teach written non-fiction in the FLC via
storytelling, or, as Wajnryb coins the term “storied lessons” which she defines as “a managed unit of
time in the language-learning classroom during which some aspects of a story or stories are made
available as a learning resource”. I shall stick to that expression referring to this description
throughout this paper.
2.
Research Summary
“There is no human collective that doesn’t have its stories” (Wajnryb, 2012:1).
Humans are said to be the most intelligent creatures on earth since they have the potential to think,
communicate and phantasise which makes them to creative and productive beings. Thus, they are
able to reflect upon events and gain experience.
The individual’s experience, according to Wajynryb, is the basis of the story which
terminates in a narrative text, or in other words “the event as represented” (Wajnryb, 2012:10).
The process described here, however, is the result of the human’s ability to create a ‘self’. Only
with the creation of a protagonist, the individual is able to represent the event they experienced
(Bruner 2002:63-87).
An event experienced by an individual, unlike an event emerged from the individual’s phantasy, is
regarded as non-fictive. In modern society especially with easy access to mass media, we witness
such non-fictive stories every day via news on TV, in radios and newspapers.
Sanderson lists arguments in favour of using newspapers in the FLC. Amongst others, he
argues that newspapers have a “general educational value” since articles keep us informed about
what is happening in our environment or in the culture from where the newspaper had been
purchased. Therefore, it also contains cultural information of the paper’s original region or country.
He also argues that newspapers, since they contain different sections and different texts with
different purposes, offer “varieties of English” and are “authentic materials” which can be used to
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teach students with different levels of English, to which he refers as “multi-level” (Sanderson
2007:2-5).
While Wajnryb (2012) and Sanderson (2007) present a wide range of classroom activities to
serve the purpose of teaching with texts in a storied lesson, Macalister criticises the lack of learning
effect in a traditional reading lesson. He claims that reading in the FLC traditionally means going
through a text, answer a couple of comprehension questions and leave it with that. This, however,
does not teach the learner how to read and therefore does not live up to be meaningful.
Comprehension questions merely aim to check whether the learner gained the information from the
text in order to work with the source. It therefore should be used preparatory in order to continue
with meaning-focussed input.
Macalister suggests to move from the four skills (reading, listening, speaking and writing) to
four strands, which are meaning-focussed input, language-focussed learning, meaning-focussed
output and fluency development.
The conditions for meaning-focussed input are captured in the mnemonic MINUS:
“M - there is a focus on meaning
I - the texts and tasks interest the learners
N - there is new learning
U - for understanding; the input is understandable, activities help understanding
S - tasks are stress-free or, at least, designed to reduce stress for the learners.”
(Macalister, 2011:162)
Language-focused learning includes pronunciation, vocabulary, and spelling, as well as
teaching how to read.
Summarising, one could say that the input strand deals with listening and reading skills, the output
strand with speaking and writing. All skills can, however, fit into fluency development.
According to Macalister, a teacher should always know the goal of each activity, or at least each
lesson. Criteria for goals are captured in the mnemonic LIST:
“L - Language (may include new vocabulary, letter-sound relationships, grammatical structures etc.)
I - Ideas (may include content that need to be learnt, content required for other activities)
S - Skills (reading for literal understanding, reading to infer meaning)
T - Text”
(Macalister, 2011:163)
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As teachers usually tend to turn reading sessions into grammar lessons, the primary concern
should be the meaning of the text, no matter what the goal. Thus, comprehension tasks must always
be designed according to the goals (i.e. cause-effect relationship: pronominal questions / whquestions). Alternatively, information transfer could be applied, where learners transfer language
input into a different form, such as a diagram, plan, or table.
Comprehension questions here have a monitoring role. That means, they check what the
learner understood from the text. By understanding the text, it becomes meaningful input. It
furthermore is a solid platform for the language-focussed learning strand from which teaching how
to read can be approached. After this, language-focussed learning or an activity circle should follow.
An important aim for a storied lesson according to Wajnryb is the students’ awareness of genre.
Accordingly, she suggests “the declarative knowledge of the conventions of narrative genres” to be
regarded as “the first goal” (Wajnryb 2012:15). This will enable language learners to apply the
gained “knowledge of the linguistic nature of narrative genres that interest them or that they are
likely to encounter in second language situations.” (ibid.).
3.
Presentation Description
The presentation’s aim was to demonstrate Macalister’s point in “Today’s Teaching Tomorrow’s
Texts”. Starting with a comprehension activity designed for the students who were supposed to have
read the article by Macalister (description above) was meant to have the participants feel to attend a
traditional reading class they might remember from their own school days. The material used was
designed according to school standards I remembered from my own school time. It contained right/
wrong questions as well as wh-questions. After 15 minutes, the solutions were compared.
So far, according to Macalister’s critique, this had been a reading session since a text was
used in class, however, it was yet not a reading session in terms of Macalister since reading itself
had not been taught.
After having clarified the purpose of reading non-fiction (unlike fiction which primarily
serves entertainment, non-fiction readers seek to gain information of some sort), the students were
introduced so some reading strategies. The method introduced was KWL and describes three
cognitive steps which have to be done before reading a text. KWL stands for
K - What do I already know about the subject?
W - What do I want to learn?
L - What did I learn from the text?
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It can be regarded as a less complex version of the PQRST-Method (Preview, Question, Read,
Survey, Test).
Another set of skills was introduced as skimming and scanning. While with skimming, the
reader just briefly reads the text for a general overview, in scanning, the reader browses a text for
special key words to get specific information.
To practise these skills, the students were given a biography of Oscar Wilde. Before reading,
the participants were asked to note down for themselves what they already knew about Oscar Wilde
and potentially what they wanted to know about him. Then, they were asked to first skim the text
according to the description given before and try to remember as many facts as they could. After
that, they were given one question each, having to find that piece of information in order to answer
it as quickly as possible within the text.
The post-reading activity was the creation of a time line of Oscar Wilde’s life. Students were
asked to come to the front and put magnetic cards onto the board in the right order. This activity
was done in the collective.
What followed was an input about biographies and their characteristics. Students were asked
to name some of the characteristics of biographies they could think of which were noted on the
board.
This input was insofar important as the class were then asked to write short biographies
about a partner they were asked to interview.
After some results were presented to the collective, the students were invited to give a feed-back on
the presentation. Therefore, targets were placed all over the room on which the participants were
invited to leave a mark on each target to express their opinion of whether the presentation reached
its aims or not.
4.
Analysis of Presentation
4.1
Evaluation and reflection
The presentation aimed to demonstrate Macalister’s point in his article “Today’s Teaching
Tomorrow’s Text”. This goal was reached by discussing the importance of teaching not only to
answer task sheets containing comprehension questions in a reading class but also teach strategies
of reading. The demonstration of the essential different methods in teaching texts was even more
successful than intended since all participants appeared to be unprepared. Thus, they were not only
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not motivated to answer the comprehension questions on the task sheet but also were they unable to
do so. Thus, the beginning of the session was more tiresome than intended.
According to the feedback received from the participants, it must have been obvious that the
presenting group did not work together in harmony. In fact, it became obvious that all preparations
must have been done by me since I was addressing the audience most of the time, or, if not,
supporting other members of the presenting group if not even correcting them in their parts.
Participants, according to their feedback, noticed a tension within the group. In a written
statement, one student expressed her impression as follows: “I felt like Michael was more prepared
than the rest of the group.” Unfortunately, I have to admit, that this was the case.
Communication problems caused a delay in the group’s preparation towards the
presentation. With no time to be spared, the group quickly had to decide and to make a plan. Only
two meetings took place in which most group members participated not only unprepared but also
not being sure about the topic of the presentation.
Due to delays and uncertainty about responsibility for different tasks and preparations, the
text on which the presentation is based on was uploaded two days after the appointed deadline.
This, of course, could be a factor for the experienced problem that students did not read the text
preparatory and instead participated without having read the text. However, one student expressed
his impression of being overwhelmed with texts to be read not only in this but also in other
seminars. Other students agreed. Thus, I daresay that the delay merely was a minor factor causing
that experience.
Concerned with the unfortunate conditions, planning and structuring the presentation was
continued by one of three, bearing in mind that if the presentation was well prepared, nothing could
go wrong. That nobody from the presenting group had a look at the materials produced and
provided preparatory in advance was a shocking surprise to me. Accordingly, I felt let down and
nervous. This, evidently, was noticed by the audience who stated that in their feedback, too.
Despite all the effort, the presentation failed to live up to the seminar’s topic. It contained
nothing concerning the storytelling aspect in teaching non-fictional texts. The use of a biography as
teaching material for that matter was a good starting point, nevertheless. The potential of using
biographies in the FLC, however, was not fulfilled in this presentation.
Subsequent thoughts of how the storytelling aspect could be fit into the topic led to new
perspectives and ideas which might have an improving effect.
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4.2
Further Readings
The awareness and creation of our ‘self’ enables us to become protagonists of our own stories
(Bruner 2002:64-65). Bruner claims the creation of ‘self’ as something everyone produces for
themselves in a way they find appropriate in certain occasions. (Bruner 2002:64) The experiences
from the past, which cause “hopes and fears for the future” (ibid.) are mainly responsible for which
creation of ‘self’ the individual decides.
By “telling oneself about oneself” (ibid.) Bruner remarks that the individual here tells a
story about themselves explaining all appearances: “about who and what we are, what’s happened,
and why we’re doing what we’re doing” (ibid.).
The awareness of ‘selfhood’ results from both, the inside of an individual, e.g. how they
want to be seen by others, as well as from their environment, e.g. how are they actually seen by
others. Both sides have an impact on each other (Brunner 2002:65). Thus, we are very careful when
it comes to telling about ourselves: “It depends on what we think they [the environment or society]
think we ought to be like - or what selves in general ought to be like.” (Brunner 2002:66,
emphasises taken from original).
Biographies are the (written) stories of individuals produced either by themselves or other
individuals who have own opinions of the character being described. A biography, especially an
autobiography is a ‘self-narrative’, a story about oneself told by the protagonist, so to say. Since
autobiographers are well aware of the fact that the environment judges the author’s / protagonist’s
‘self’ according to how they are presented, reading biographies requires the reader to think
critically. Biographies are shaped facts to fit purpose.
Since, according to Wajnryb, the students’ awareness for genre is to be sharpened in a
storied lesson, the aim of this lesson in which biographies are taught could be to demonstrate how
genre is linked to purpose.
In order to raise the students’ awareness towards different genre, a session about biographies
could focus on the features of that genre comparing it with others. Therefore, additionally to Oscar
Wilde’s biography, examples of three different text types related to an other celebrity should be
provided (e.g. encyclopaedia entry, obituary and magazine article).
The lesson starts with the students reading the three different text types, recognising that
texts with different purposes are written in different ways. Here, the students can be guided with a
task sheet (all material mentioned can be found in the appendix) containing observation questions,
such as “Which text is the most factual?” etc.
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Next, Oscar Wilde is to be introduced. A picture of him could stimulate the students to
discuss his life or simply awake some knowledge about him. In this context, the time line of Oscar
Wilde could be formed on the board as described in the presentation above.
Alternatively, the students could read a biography of Oscar Wilde. This task is be turned into
a meaningful input by letting the students extract the information from the text and use it to form an
own time line.
Then, students are put into three groups, each of them is assigned a genre - Group 1:
encyclopaedia entry; group 2: obituary; group 3: magazine article. Within these groups, the students
are to produce a text according to their genre about Oscar Wilde. His biography discussed
beforehand will provide them with the data needed for producing their texts.
After a period of time, the students are asked to swap the texts with an other group and read
another group’s work in return. The best method to do that in an ordered way would be in a socalled ‘jig-saw puzzle’: First, all students work in their groups as described above. After they have
finished, they change their groups in a way so that every newly-formed group is contains one
student from each group from the previous discussion. In these new groups, they can present their
findings to each other.
This lesson focusses more on the storytelling aspect, however, it does less focus on teaching
how to read. One must not forget here, that there is a time limit when it comes to plan a lesson. Too
many goals for one unit will end in time pressure, stress and dissatisfaction on both sides, the
students’ and the teacher’s. Thus, one should consider to separate these aims into different lessons.
They could, however, fit into the same unit nevertheless.
Biographies are only one alternative of many to teach written non-fiction in a storied lesson.
An other source for non-fictional stories on printed media are newspapers. A huge advantage with
newspapers is their availability. Especially nowadays it has become very easy to access English
language newspapers.
An activity that could as well be related to both, biographies and newspapers, is introduced
by Sanderson: “2.27 Potted biographies” (Sanderson 2007:83). Here, the students in a preintermediate to intermediate class are to identify potted biographies in newspaper articles. A podded
biography is usually used by journalists to safe space by “cramming the most information into the
shortest space” (Waterhouse 1993:206-210, quoted from Sanderson 2007:85).
Sanderson suggests to bring some articles which contain potted biographies into class and
read them aloud to the students. If they don’t recognise the feature of a potted biography by
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themselves, the teacher is to write the first five or six words of the articles on the board to help
them.
Like in Wajnryb’s activity introduced above, Sanderson aims his students to get an
understanding for the features of the ‘genre’ introduced.
After the students have discussed the features of a potted biography, they are to be given
newspaper articles by the teacher. Within a period of time, they are to find as many potted
biographies as they can. Working in pairs in this activity might support an encouraging atmosphere
in the classroom.
After comparing the findings on the board and recognising that potted biographies are a
feature usually found in tabloid newspapers, as well as having discussed what is said about the
people in these articles, the students are asked to paraphrase the potted biography: “e.g. Little
Buddha screenplay writer Bernado Bertolucci… could be written as Bernado Bertolucci, who wrote
the screenplay for the film Little Buddha…” (Sanderson 2007:84, emphasis from original).
To this activity, Sanderson offers two extensions and one variation: In the extensions, he
suggests to let students “refer back to articles they found which did not contain potted biographies.
Ask them to create potted biographies using information contained within the article” (ibid.).
Extension 2 suggests to have students to “create potted biographies for themselves, for other
students in the class, or from prominent people they all know (including yourself and other
members of staff)” (ibid.).
The variation suggests to remove potted biographies from articles the students get to read
and have them “create suitable potted biographies based on what they learn about the
characters” (ibid.).
Like Wajnryb, Sanderson offers a wide range of classroom activities with stories from one
specific medium - the newspaper. Here, it might make sense to chose some activities for a unit
dealing with newspapers whereas Wajnryb’s collection of activities rather suits a more constant
approach.
Both, Wajnryb and Sanderson aim to sharpen their students’ senses towards genre and
features of texts. This enables the student to become autonomous readers as well as critic thinkers.
Of course, teaching non-fiction in storied lessons does not exclude other media then texts. Amongst
others, non-fiction can also be found in films, on tape or verbal as well as in the internet.
Another form that is getting more common in the FLC is “Drama-in-education”, which focusses on
the learner’s interpretation on experience.
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Athlemoolam (2004) claims that a major problem in the FLC is the “learner’s lack of
confidence to communicate” (Athlemoolam 2004:2) which results from the lack of “authentic
situations” when it comes to language practice (ibid.). He suggests that “Drama-in-education” is
supposed to enable the student to “explore emotions, attitudes, opinions and relationships” (ibid.).
Seeing non-fictional storytelling taking part in every-day-situations, one could think of using
Drama-in-education in the FLC to let students perform scenes they developed and ask other
students to describe and interpret the scene. This could, for example, be a criminal event which the
students are asked to witness and then report to the “police” what they can remember.
This activity, I imagine, can be highly motivating since students are working practically,
performing a scene they developed themselves in front of others and also use language in a very
authentic context.
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5
Conclusion
Generally speaking, teaching stories in the FLC should not only be used as a unit but be constantly
used throughout the curriculum. Awareness of genre cannot be taught within a couple of lessons.
One cannot expect students to grasp that awareness when the teacher neglects the topic after one
unit.
Preparing the student for their future lives using English actively requires them to be able to
recognise texts, analyse them and, moreover, produce own texts according to specific genre. NonFiction is very likely to be one of the more common genres students might come across once they
start their careers. Thus, I agree with Wajnryb, that teaching genre is essential to teaching English.
Furthermore, the importance of teaching how to read instead merely answering
comprehension questions and thus make it a meaningful task has been made clear. Without a plan
aiming at a goal, lessons can become very tiresome and exhausting. If the teacher does not know
where to get with their students, the learners might quickly loose their interest in the lessons and are
then very hard to motivate.
Most importantly, I support the claims for authenticity in the FLC. EFL students are not
trained to become native speakers, but competent and, most importantly, confident and fluent
speakers. Thus they need to be prepared for ‘the real English’, that is the language they are heading
to come across when they finish their school careers and start working in a globalised world.
Activities introduced in this paper such as using newspapers according to Sanderson or other
activities with stories according to Wajnryb are very likely to prevent students to experience a lack
of language competence once they come across ‘real English’ after being merely trained with
common drills in not authentic school books.
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6
Appendix
6.1
Lesson Plan Presentation
Session plan: teaching non-fiction in the FLC
Time
8.00
8.05
Content
Lead in
Present outline:
- text work / comprehension tasks & discussion
- reading skills
- teaching sample
+ pre-reading activity
+ while reading activity
+ post-reading activity
- biographies
- creative writing task
- feedback
Didactics
TD; T:B
Today’s teaching tomorrow’s text: exploring the teaching of reading
S:WS1
WS1: Comprehension Tasks
talk
Comparison & Discussion
8.20
8.25
Reading Skills
What is the reason for reading non-fiction?
getting information (not reading for joy!) = necessity of certain reading
skills
TQ
[KWL]
> What do I already KNOW about the subject?
> What do I WANT to learn?
> What did I LEARN from the text?
TD (Input)
(Can you see a similarity to something you already know?)
PQRST
(TQ)
[Skimming / Scanning]
Skimming = Briefly read a text for general overview
Scanning = browse a text for special key words for specific information
TD (Input)
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Time
8.25
8.35
8.50
9.00
Content
Oscar Wilde
Pre-Reading:
S note K + W about Oscar Wilde.
Didactics
S:E
While Reading: [T hands out text]
S: Skim the text & note L, then: S scan:
> Who was Lord Alfred Douglas?
Oscar Wilde’s affair and love of his life
> Under which circumstances did Oscar Wilde die?
Penniless in a cheap Paris hotel due to cerebral meningitis.
> What does the text say about Oscar Wilde’s relatives?
Father: Sir William Wilde; Mother: Jane; only two siblings died aged 10:
married to Constance Lloyd from 1884 - 1893
> Which was the last success Oscar Wilde had?
The Importance Of Being Earnest
> Which was Oscar Wilde’s last publication?
The Ballad Of Reading Gaol
Post-Reading:
Time Line
L
S:T
S:B
S:E
Biographies
Characteristics:
> Record of someone’s life story that is well known in present for their
achievements in the past.
(> Greek: bios = life; graphos = writing)
> Chronological order in writing
> are a ‘perspective on truth’ - detail presented supports a particular point
of view
> combination of fact and opinion
(fact can be supported by evidence: Earth is the third planet from the sun;
opinion is a statement that may have some supporting evidence but not
enough to make it beyond doubt: Blue is a charming colour.)
T:S / TD
9.05
Creative Writing
S are formed into pairs [opposites activity]
S are to interview each other and write a (short) biography about the
other. Then, they may present results in class.
PW
9.25
Feedback
Final discussion:
Which elements of presentation / activities can be found in text to be
prepared for today?
talk
i.e.
> Post-Reading activity: “information transfer”
> Comprehension tasks
> Teaching tomorrow’s reading
9.30
S are to mark target charts.
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6.2
Draft: Lesson Plan (improved alternative): ‘Shaping facts to fit purpose’
Session plan: Shaping facts to fit purpose
Time
8.00
Content
Didactics
Lead in
> three different text types
> read them for yourselves and answer the questions on the task sheet
TD; WS1&2
Compare solutions
talk
8.25
Oscar Wilde *PICTURE*
> “Who is this person?” / “What do you know about that person?”
Collect information on board
T:B
TQ; talk
T:B
8.30
Reading Skills
What is the reason for reading non-fiction?
getting information (not reading for joy!) = necessity of certain reading
skills
8.20
8.35
8.35
[Skimming / Scanning]
Skimming = Briefly read a text for general overview
Scanning = browse a text for special key words for specific information
Oscar Wilde
Reading: [T hands out text]
S: Skim the text & note
S:T; S:E
TQ
TD (Input)
S:E
S:T
8.40
then: S scan:
> Who was Lord Alfred Douglas?
Oscar Wilde’s affair and love of his life
> Under which circumstances did Oscar Wilde die?
Penniless in a cheap Paris hotel due to cerebral meningitis.
> What does the text say about Oscar Wilde’s relatives?
Father: Sir William Wilde; Mother: Jane; only two siblings died aged 10:
married to Constance Lloyd from 1884 - 1893
> Which was the last success Oscar Wilde had?
The Importance Of Being Earnest
> Which was Oscar Wilde’s last publication?
The Ballad Of Reading Gaol
8.50
Post-Reading:
Time Line
S:B
S:E
8.50
9.15
Creative Writing
S form three groups. / Jigsaw
> Group 1: Encyclopaedia entry
> Group 2: Obituary
> Group 3: Magazine article
TD
S write a text about Oscar Wilde
S:E
S swap their texts with their jigsaw parter of other groups and read.
9.20
Feedback
TD = Teacher's Discourse
T:B = Teacher on Board
S:WS1 (Students work on Worksheet 1)
talk: Student-Teacher interaction
S:T = Students work with text
talk
TQ = Teacher's Question
S:E = Student's working in their Exercise Books
S:B = Students work on the board
PW = Pair Work
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6.3
Material used
6.3.1. Text: Biography - Oscar Wilde
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6.3.2. Worksheet: Comprehension - Macalister I
Teaching Non-Fiction in the FLC
Today’s teaching, tomorrow’s text: exploring the teaching of reading
Comprehension tasks
A!
Please tick. If a statement is wrong, please correct it.
Language focussed learning is likely to follow from meaning-focussed
input. (p.162)
No matter what the meaning of the text, the primary concern should be
the goal. (p.163)
When the learners have first read and understood the text, the attention
then shifts to how that meaning was conveyed. (p.165)
B!
Please answer the following questions.
a) What does the mnemonic MINUS stand for? What is it related to?
b) Which alternative to comprehension tasks does the text suggest?
c) What does the mnemonic LIST stand for? What is it related to?
stands for...
Example
L
I
S
T
d) Which purpose do comprehension questions have?
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Wrong
Right
Statement
Michael Jaskulski!
6.3.3. Worksheet: Comprehension - Macalister II
Teaching Non-Fiction in the FLC
C!
Please answer the following questions
a) Which comprehension questions were used in A according to the text?
b) Which comprehension questions were used in B according to the text?
6.3.4. Task Sheet: Scanning Questions
Who was Lord Alfred Douglas?
Under which circumstances did he die?
What does the text say about his relatives?
Which was the last success Oscar Wilde had?
Which was Oscar Wilde’s last publication?
Under which circumstances
did he die?
- 17 What does the text say about his relatives?
Michael Jaskulski!
6.3.5. Worksheet: Different text styles I - ‘Shaping facts to fit purpose’
Obituary
The world was stunned and shocked this week at the tragic death of John Lennon.
Remembered not only for being an extraordinary songwriter and singer and member of the
world’s greatest pop band, the Beatles, but also for being a committed peace activist, it is
indeed ironic that his short life met a violent end. Lennon was gunned down in the street
by a psychotic fan, Mark David Chapman.
Lennon’s achievements were many. With his songwriting partner, Paul McCartney, he
wrote some of the best pop tunes in the 1960s, and was a major influence on pop music
throughout that period. Lennon captured the feeling of the 60s - from the early days of
Beatlemania hysteria to his search for deeper meaning in life throughout the peace
movement.
His life was not without controversy - divorce, a messy ending to the Beatles, and that
famous comment that the Beatles were ‘more famous than Jesus Christ’, which deeply
shocked and offended some. He also went through a period where he withdrew from the
limelight to concentrate on his family. In his final year, however, he had made a major
come-back with Double Fantasy, the duet album that he recorded with his wife Yoko Ono.
Lennon will be mourned all over the world, but most of all by his widow, Yoko Ono, and
sons Julian and Sean. The vigil of silence held by his fans on December 14 this week
shows he touched the lives of so many. He will be remembered forever as the man who
gave the world great songs like Imagine - a song about the world living as one in peace.
Rest in Peace, John Lennon.
Magazine Article
A psychotic fan has ended the life of musician genius, John Lennon. Lennon was tragically
shot and killed not far from his New York apartment by crazed fan Mark David Chapman
on 8 December 1980 whilst going out for a walk.
The ex-Beatles member and peace activist had only recently revived his career by
releasing an album Double Fantasy with his wife, Yoko Ono, in November. The couple,
married since 1968, had lived in New York for some time, raising their five-year-old son,
Sean.
Fans all over the world have responded to Lennon’s death in disbelief and deep sadness,
calling for a vigil of silence to be held on 14 December. ‘It’s an unbelievable shock,’ one
fan sobbed. ‘I just can’t believe he’s gone.’
- 18 -
Michael Jaskulski!
6.3.6. Worksheet: Different Text Types II - ‘Shaping facts to fit purpose’
Encyclopaedic
Lennon, John 1940-1980 Singer, songwriter, musician, peace activist. Born October 9,
1940, in Liverpool, England. Lennon was the rhythm guitarist, keyboard player, and
vocalist for the Beatles, and a partner in a songwriter team with Paul McCartney. The
Beatles - comprised of Lennon, McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison - became
one of the most influential rock and roll groups of all time.
Lennon started his first band, the Quarrymen, for which the Beatles would eventually
evolve. Brian Epstein became the Beatles’ manager in 1962, and later that year, they
received a contract with the British label Parlophone.
That year, the Beatles recorded their premiere singles, Love Me Do and P.S. I Love You. In
1962, Lennon married Cynthia Powell, whom he met while attending the Liverpool College
of Art in 1957. Their son, John Julian Lennon, was born in 1963. In the same year, the
Beatles recorded their first album, Please Please Me, which stayed on top of the British
charts for 30 weeks. An appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964 trigged
‘Beatlemania’ - the adulation of screaming fans that met the group wherever they
appeared.
The Beatles dominated the music charts throughout the 1960s. In April 1964, the five bestselling singles and two best-selling albums on the US charts belonged to the Beatles. In
1966, Lennon infuriated religious groups in the USA when he said that the Beatles had
become bigger than Jesus Christ. Demonstrations led Lennon to apologise for the remark.
The band’s final concert was held on 29 August 1966, in San Francisco. Tensions between
Lennon, McCartney and Harrison were mounting and each was moving in a different
direction artistically.
In 1968, Lennon and Cynthia Powell divorced, and the next year, he married Yoko Ono, a
Japanese conceptional artist and musician, whom he met in a New York City art gallery.
Lennon’s second son and Yoko’s first, Sean Taro Ono Lennon, was born in 1975.
Following the break-up of the Beatles, Yoko Ono and Lennon worked together. In 1969,
they staged a ‘Bed-in for Peace’, a peace protest in which, for several days, they granted
interviews only from their bed. Lennon concentrated on a solo career as well, and in 1971,
he once again topped the music charts with Imagine.
On 8 December 1980, Lennon was shot and killed by Mark David Chapman, an insane
fan, outside his apartment building in New York City. Fans of John Lennon held a tenminute vigil of silence around the world, occurring on 14 December at 2 p.m. Eastern
Standard Time (EST). After his death, sales of Double Fantasy (a duet album with Yoko
Ono that had been released in November 1980) soared, and the single (Just Like) Starring
Over became the posthumous number 1 hit.
- 19 -
Michael Jaskulski!
6.3.7. Task Sheet: Different Text Types II - ‘Shaping facts to fit purpose’
Task Sheet
Compare the three texts:
1. Which is the most factual?
2. Which text has the most opinion?
3. What is the purpose of each text?
4. Who is the audience for each one?
5. In which text does the writer seem closest to John Lennon (that is, writing as if they
knew him personally)?
6. Underline the words and phrases that describe John Lennon in each text.
7
Bibliography
Athiemoolam, Dr. L. (2004). Drama-In-Education And Its Effectiveness In English Second /
Foreign Language Classes. Universität Oldenburg, Zentrum für Süd-Nord-Bildungskooperation.
Bruner, Jerome (2002). Making Stories: Law, Literature, Life. USA: First Harvard University
Press.
Herman, David ed. (2010). Teaching Narrative Theory. New York: The Modern Language
Hudson, Thom (2007). Teaching Second Language Reading. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Macalister, John (2011). “Today’s Teaching, Tomorrow’s Text: exploring the teaching of reading.”
ELT Journal: 161-169.
Morgan, John and Mario Rinvoluci (2004). Once Upon a Time: Using stories in the language
classroom [1983]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sanderson, Paul (2007). Using Newspapers in the Classroom [1999]. Cambridge, Cambridge
University Press.
Wajnryb, Ruth (2012). Stories: Narrative activities in the language classroom [2003]. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
- 20 -
Michael Jaskulski!
Declaration of Authorship
Hiermit versichere ich, dass diese Hausarbeit von mir persönlich verfasst ist und dass ich keinerlei
fremde Hilfe in Anspruch genommen habe. Ebenso versichere ich, dass diese Arbeit oder Teile
daraus weder von mir selbst noch von anderen als Leistungsnachweis anderenorts eingereicht
wurden. Wörtliche oder sinngemäße Übernahmen aus anderen Schriften und Veröffentlichungen in
gedruckter oder elektronischer Form sind gekennzeichnet. Sämtliche Sekundärliteratur und sonstige
Quellen sind nachgewiesen und in der Bibliographie aufgeführt. Das Gleiche gilt für graphische
Darstellungen und Bilder, sowie für alle Internetquellen.
Gießen, den 10. April 2013
______________________________________
(Michael Jaskulski)
- 21 -

TEFL II Term Paper

Transcription

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