Reading & Vocabulary: Your needs?

Next Wednesday, I'll be leading a seminar focusing on vocabulary and reading, mainly from a theoretical viewpoint. (In the afternoon, I believe Irene will be working with you on more practical aspects). I've already done a good deal of planning, but I'd like to hear from you. What do you already know? What have you often wondered about? What problems do you and your students have? What successes have you had? I look forward to hearing from you. Feel free to comment here or to send me e-mail at brett.reynolds@humber.ca

Secret of the Wild Child

Post your comments about CPH, Genie and Victor. What do you think about CPH? After watching the video, how has your understanding of L1 and L2 acquisition changed or not changed?

First and Second Language Acquisition

Hi, Everyone,




I enjoyed going through FLA and SLA with you this morning. It's a subject I'm very fascinated with.



Here are some links to the videos you were shown, as well as the interesting New Yorker article on the Piraha people in Brazil and how their language "disproves" the UG position (please note my quotations on "disproves"!)




1) Chomsky lecture: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJp1-Od67-U

2) How babies learn language: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZAuZ--Yeqo&feature=related

3) Piraha language (it's non recursive!): http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/04/16/070416fa_fact_colapinto

Also, I encourage you to search www.youtube.com for interesting videos in English for your students. It's an easily accessible (and free!) site which can be valuable for language learning.

See you next Monday,

Lara

Photo source

Re: "Richest Line" from Chapter 6

You have all chosen some poignant and insightful quotes from the text. I can definitely relate to all of your observations.

I think we can all agree that the role of a teacher is a complex role, particularly for teachers who speak English as a second language. The role is a "performance" of sorts, which demands professionalism, respect, honesty, and the recognition that all students are equal and should be treated as such.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

(I also posted this as a comment)

Chapter 6 - Describing Teachers

You already wrote about what kind of teacher you are. Now, read Chapter 6 and choose your 'richest line.' The richest line can be any sentence or two that meant the most to you when you read this chapter. Post your richest line on this blog. You only have to post one or two sentences.

Online Pronunciation Websites

Please visit the following link, which will give you a list of many online pronunciation websites. You can practice your pronunciation in your spare time by clicking on this link.

http://iteslj.org/links/ESL/Pronunciation/

BLOGGING TASK #1

Introduce yourself on Blogger. Write a few short paragraphs to answer these questions:
1. What does it mean to be a teacher?
2. Who are you as a teacher?