Saturday, May 30, 2009

Chapter 7

Multi-word chunks are word chunks that function like a single word, and they also include words formed by affixation.

According to our text, the following errors are common when dealing with multi-word chunks:
-Affixation errors
-Compounding errors
-Errors of multi-word units
-Collocation errors
-Phrasal verb errors
-Idiom errors

There are 2 ways to deal with these errors. You can either teach students the rules necessary to understand the multi-word chunks, or you can give students lots of examples, and contexts, so they can understand them better. We'll talk briefly about the advantages and disadvantages of both methods:

With a rule-based approach, you focus on teaching the correct form as shown by grammatical rules. There is evidence, especially for adults, that learning grammar rules can aid second language acquisition. However, there are always exceptions to rules. For example, what if a word is unclear, like the word "satisfied", as stated in our text. Which prefix should a learner add: un-, dis-, in-, or non-?

With item-learning, multi-word chunks are learned like basic words-one at a time. There is a presentation of the vocabulary, plus reinforcement and practice. As the text states, "For a start, this seems to be the way words are acquired naturally. They are first learned as items, and then gradually re-categorised according to rules" (Thornbury 2002). Item-learning is slow, but you can add consciousness-raising to make it go faster. Consciousness-raising isn't a presentation of rules, but it involves making learners aware of certain patterns.

A semantic syllabus is a syllabus that focuses on meanings instead of forms.

A lexical syllabus is a syllabus that is based around the most frequently used words. Basically, what Dave and Jane Willis did was check out the most frequently used words, figure out how those words were used, and teach the phrases or chunks in which those words usually occured. So, learners basically learned a phrase book. Lexical syllabi are becoming more and more popular.

When teaching lexical chunks, one must distinguish between fixed and semi-fixed chunks. Fixed chunks are chunks whose word order cannot be changed. Semi-fixed chunks can be changed a bit. Lexical chunks are learned by being exposed over and over again to the chunks, and by consciousness-raising. To aid in consciousness-raising, use your classroom. You have 4 walls; use them! Put up posters or have students make wall-charts. Also, when teaching lexical chunks, one should use authentic texts, giving students a chance to see the chunks in real and varying contexts. Songs, like pop songs, are also helpful.

To conclude, it would be a good idea for you to review the bullet points on page 122, which give you a list of things involved in "a general approach to the teaching of lexical phrases and collocation".

Thornbury, Scott. How to Teach Vocabulary (2002) Essex, England: Pearson-Longman.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Self-Reflection Paper Instructions

Self-Reflection Instructions

After reading Chapters 5, 6, & 7, write a 2 page reflection paper about teaching strategies you have used in your classroom. What has worked? What has not worked? Is there anything you have learned from Chapters 5, 6, & 7 that could help you to be more effective in your vocabulary teaching?

You must write at least 2 full pages. Charts, diagrams, and long quotations do not count toward your 2 full pages, double spaced. You must use 1-inch margins on all sides of your paper, and Times New Roman 12pt font. You must have only one space in-between your heading and the title, and one space between your title and the start of your first paragraph. Any other spacing will result in a lower mark. See below as an example:

(Your header must be single-spaced. You can start double spacing after the title.)
Your name
The professor’s name
Name of the course
Date

Title

Start of the first paragraph.

Group Presentation Instructions

Group Presentation Instructions

Group 1:

Students: Lejla, Selvije, Berat

Topic: How are words remembered? (from Chapter 2)

Group 2:

Students: Ivana, Jehona, Anita

Topic: Teaching phrasal verbs & Teaching idioms (from Chapter 7)

Group 3:

Students: Sonja, Zilbije, Naxhije

Topic: Doing action research (from Chapter 8)

Group 4:

Students: Kujtime, Merita, Laureta

Topic: Motivation (from Chapter 9)

Group 5:

Students: Mjellma, Besart, Meri

Topic: Corpus data (from Chapter 4)

Instructions: Each presentation must be 20-30 minutes long. Each presentation must contain information from the textbook as well as research done by your group. You must cite your sources in the presentation. Failure to cite your sources will result in a grade of 0 for plagiarism. You may not simply bring a piece of paper and read from it. This needs to be an authentic presentation done for the class, so you may use notes, but you may not read your presentation. You must use some sort of visual aid. If you wish to use PowerPoint, you must tell me 2 weeks before your presentation so I can secure the projector for your use. Every group member must participate equally in the group presentation.

10% of your presentation grade will be for your work as a group.
20% of the presentation grade will be given for your work individually.

Syllabus

SEE University, Tetovo
Faculty of Languages, Cultures, and Communication
English Department


Course Title: Teaching Vocabulary
Instructor: Sabrina Resa, MA
Office Hours: TBA
Office: Language Center, 1002.09
E-mail: s.resa@seeu.edu.mk

Course description:

This course is designed to provide an overview of pedagogies and issues in the teaching and learning of English vocabulary. The course also includes techniques and classroom activities for teaching various aspects of English vocabulary, as well as evaluation and critiquing of teaching material on English vocabulary.

Attendance policy:

In accordance with the university’s attendance policy, students must attend 70% of the meetings in order to be able to pass the course. If a student misses more than 30 % of the classes, the student will automatically fail the course, regardless of performance on the assignments. The dismissal of excused absences (medical appointments, family emergencies, etc.) will be taken up on a case by case basis.

Textbooks:

Each student must purchase a copy of:

Course Reader

Assessment:

Assessment in this course will be made up of attendance, participation (in-class), online discussions, readings checks, and a Final Project.
Attendance
10 %
Participation: In-Class & Online
20 %
Self Reflection
10%
Presentation
30%
Final Exam
30%
Total
100 %








Grading Rubric:

Grade Scale
Grade Description
Grade
Points
95% - 100%
Excellent
10.0
86% - 94%
Very good
9.0
77% - 85%
Good
8.0
68% - 76%
Satisfactory
7.0
60% - 67%
Passing
6.0
59% - below
Failing
5.0

Incomplete (IN)
0.0











Incomplete (IN): An incomplete grade may be assigned if a student has not finished all course requirements by the end of the semester, but has completed a substantial amount of the work. It is the student’s responsibility to bring pertinent information to the teacher and to reach an agreement on how the remaining course requirements will be satisfied. If requirements are not completed within one year, a failing grade is automatically assigned.

Late Work: The professor will deduct 10% per day including weekends and holidays for late work. If a student will be absent, it is the student’s responsibility to speak with the professor to get the absence excused. Please see the attendance policy for further information about getting absences excused.

Miscellaneous Information:

1) You may bring beverages to class, but not food.

2) All grades are final-no exceptions!

3) Our blogsite address is: http://seeu2009tv.blogspot.com.

4) Plagiarism and cheating will result in a zero for the assignment-no exceptions! Plagiarism and cheating are defined as follows:



Plagiarism & Cheating:

Plagiarism is defined as presenting someone else's work, including the work of other students, as one's own. Any ideas or materials taken from another source for either written or oral use must be fully acknowledged, unless the information is common knowledge. What is considered "common knowledge" may differ from course to course.
a. A student must not adopt or reproduce ideas, opinions, theories, formulas, graphics, or pictures of another person without acknowledgment.
b. A student must give credit to the originality of others and acknowledge an indebtedness whenever:
1. Directly quoting another person's actual words, whether oral or written;
2. Using another person's ideas, opinions, or theories;
3. Paraphrasing the words, ideas, opinions, or theories of others, whether oral or written;
4. Borrowing facts, statistics, or illustrative material; or
5. Offering materials assembled or collected by others in the form of projects or collections without acknowledgment.
(from: Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct, Part II, Student Responsibilities, Academic Misconduct, By action of the University Faculty Council (April 12, 2005) and the Trustees of Indiana University (June 24, 2005).)
Cheating is defined as obtaining or attempting to obtain, or aiding another to obtain credit for work, or any improvement of evaluation of performance, by any dishonest or deceptive means. Cheating includes, but is not limited to: lying; copying from another’s test, unless such discussion is specifically authorized by the instructor; taking or receiving copies of an exam without the permission of the instructor, using or displaying notes, "cheat sheets," or other information devices inappropriate to the prescribed test conditions; and allowing someone other than the officially enrolled student to represent same.
(from: cla.calpoly.edu)
Course Outline
Week 1: May 1st

Topic: Syllabus will be given out online.

Homework:
1) Read Chapters 1 & 2
2) Prepare with your group to present the following information from Chapter 1. You must define each term and give examples. You may not use the examples from the Course Reader. Each group has 10-15 minutes to present their information.
Group 1: Meri, Ivana, Naxhije
-function words, content words, word families, root, affix, inflexions, affixation
Group 2: Anita, Berat, Merita
-derivative, compounding, blended words, conversion, clipping, multi-word units
Group 3: Besart, Zilbije, Jehona
-collocations, homonyms, homophones, homographs, polysemes
Group 4: Selvije, Lejla, Kujtime
-synonyms, antonyms, hyponyms, co-hyponyms
Group 5: Sonja, Mjellma, Laureta
-lexical fields, style, connotation, varieties, register

Week 2: May 15th

Topics:
1) Group Presentations for Chapter 1
2) How words are learned

Homework: Read Chapters 5, 6, & 7

Week 3: May 29th

Topics:
1) How to present vocabulary
2) How to put words to work
3) Teaching words parts and word chunks

Homework:
1) Self-Reflection Paper
2) Read Chapters 8 & 9

Week 4: June 12th

Topics:
1) How to test vocabulary
2) How to train good vocabulary learners

Week 5: (Mid-week class the week of June 15th)

Topic: Group Presentations 1, 2, 3, & 4

Homework: Read Chapters 3 & 4



Week 6: June 26th

Topics: 1) Group Presentation 5
2) Chapters 3 & 4

Homework: Prepare for the Final Exam

Week 7: July 10th

Topic: Final Exam Online