All posts by Raimo J

I am a 66-year-old retired teacher of English who wishes to share some of the key ideas on communicative teaching of languages with you. I taught English in a teacher training school in Finland over 40 years, 30 years of it as an IB coordinator.
Communicative teaching (CLT), Grammar

THE INDUCTIVE AND DEDUCTIVE METHOD in teaching grammar

Leave a comment

Look at the photo above. Which one is better for learning? The teacher telling the secret of the mystery car OR the students studying the car and finding it out themselves?

The answer is at the very end of this article. Think carefully because it will reveal your attitude towards teaching grammar as well.

I know. Having studied English for many years at the university you are not supposed to lecture and shine with your knowledge in front of your class (= the deductive method). Let’s have a look at our options.

Why the inductive method? Because it forces the students to think hard. The more they crack their brains, the better they learn.

Earlier on we defined the two most common methods in teaching grammar:

“Most teachers know the term ’inductive method’ of teaching grammar, which means the formulation of the rules on the basis on examples. It is contrasted with the ’deductive method’ which means the teacher explaining the rules in detail and then letting the students practise and apply the rules. This is the easy way out in teaching grammar. The teacher thinks ’I taught you the rules and it is up to you to learn them. We need to move on.’ “

I will start by discussing ‘the inductive method’. In my opinion it is the one we can and should use in teaching nearly all grammatical points. The inductive method activates the students’ brains much better than the ‘deductive one’.

The advantages of using the inductive method

  • First of all, students remember the rule better if they themselves have worked it out from the sample sentences given to them.
  • Secondly, students become very motivated to solve the problem; it is a minor detective operation.
  • Thirdly, every student is given time to try to figure out the rule if the process is slow, and proceeds step by step.
  • The teacher can exercise his/her expertise in the matter by presenting the relevant questions when the rule is being formulated.
  • In most cases the process can be carried out in English but in some classes it may be better to use the mother tongue to make sure everyone understands the rule.

How does the process advance in using the inductive method?

For the method to be effective it is advisable to more or less follow the steps given below and allow differentiation in the exercise types at Stage 5 if necessary.

Stage 1: Pre-task 1 Play a board game where the students throw a dice (or roll a pencil with 1-6 dots on it) and can move onwards if they remember the 3 forms of about 20 verbs, regular and irregular ones. N.B. Always make sure the foundation for the next task is solid: Some irregular verbs must be mastered for Stage 2.

Stage 2: Pre-task 2 Have a ‘Find someone who …’ task in order to make the students use the structure to be learnt many times. The structure to be learnt is The 2nd conditional.

What would you have done, if the school had been closed today?

ActionName if ‘YES’
I would have gone swimming.
I and my friend would have played computer games.Peter
Me and my dad would have eaten lunch together.Jill
I would have written our home essay.
I would have slept a couple of hours more at home.Shirley

Stage 3: Look at the examples below and work out the rule for the main clause and for the if-clause.

The main clauseThe if-clause
I would have gone downtownif the boss had given me the task.
My mum would have taken dad’s carif it had been in the garage,
What do these two clauses have in common? (= KEY QUESTION!!)
(would have + verb)
How would you translate the clauses? ‘olisin mennyt’ ‘olisi ottanut’		What do these two if-clause have in common? (the pluperfect tense)
How would you translate the clauses? ‘olisi antanut’ ‘olisi ollut’

Stage 4: Let’s formulate the rule for the 2nd conditional

The road to the formulation of the rule is clear if the students spot which pattern the sample clauses have in common.

The main clauseThe if-clause
would have + 3rd form of the verbthe pluperfect tense = had + 3rd form of the verb
‘olisi tehnyt’‘olisi tehnyt’

Now the Finnish students would notice that the Finnish language does not make any difference between the main and if-clauses and for them that is the point to bear in mind. In addition to the rules, of course. In other languages the situation may be different. In any case, comparison with the mother tongue is often very useful.

Stage 5: The if-clause can be in front of or after the main clause but do not reveal it to the students. Let them fall into the ‘trap’ when they do the first exercises and they will remember the application of the rule better.

Practice session; just like we have learnt before there should be 3 kinds of tasks for the sake of differentiation. The students will do i), ii) or iii) or all of them. See the samples below as a reminder!

i) A mechanical task (a gap filling exercise, isolated sentences with no context)

I don’t understand why you said nothing. I ___________________________ (tell) him the truth, if he __________________________ (ask) me anything about it.

Why did they not let us know they were not coming? If they _____________________ (call) us, we _________________________ (leave) the party immediately.

ii) Semi-communicative exercise (a realistic context but no freedom to write creatively and use the 2nd conditional forms)

There was a robbery at a local grocery store last week and three students are discussing what they would have done if they had been in the shop at that time.

Malcolm: I ______________________________ (hide) behind the shelves and if it _____________________________ (be) possible, I _________________________(call) the police quietly.

Anne: If I __________________________ (see) the robber, I _______________________ (write down) what they looked like and how they spoke.

Cary: I ______________________________ (try) to be quiet and I ______________________________ (take) photos from my hiding place. It _____________________________ (be) very dangerous, if the robber _______________________ (see) me doing it.

iii) A real communicative task (a realistic situation/context and freedom to be creative about the content)

There was a boat accident on a lake near your school yesterday and you are talking about it with your class mates. Write at least four things you would have done if you had been there and had seen what was going on. Include at least two if-clauses in your story.

How does the process advance in the deductive method?

The decuctive method is very easy to use but in my opinion should not be used too much since the students do not need to crack their brains very much when the teacher is explaining the rules.

There are, however, a couple of cases when the use of the deductive method is justifiable:

  • The rules might be too complicated for the students to work out. (For example, changing ‘direct speech’ into ‘indirect speech’ includes far too many little details to be taken into account.
  • Working out the rules might take far too much time.
  • The class is not accustomed or able to formulate the rules, not even when it is done in the mother tongue.

If we look at the stages above, in the worst case a teacher in favour of the deductive method might skip Stages 1 – 3 altogether, explain the rules at Stage 4 and offer mere mechanical exercises in Stage 5.

All in all, hopefully you have now a better idea how modern CLT teachers deal with grammar and treat it as an essential part of foreign language learning.

The ‘car’ is not a real car at all but a piece of art in New York made mostly of recycled tyres.

Communicative teaching (CLT), Grammar

COMMUNICATIVE GRAMMAR, TASKS AND DIFFERENTIATION

Leave a comment

Many teachers feel guilty when their students rarely reach the stage of ‘real’ communication while learning grammar. Please, don’t! Just provide the opportunities for ‘real-life’ practice.

In fact, there is no actual communicative grammar. In CLT we teach grammar rules pretty much the same way we did before using mainly the inductive method and ocassionally deductive method as well.

Thanks to CLT we started to apply the rules differently: first with a lot of oral exercises in ‘real-life’ situations (role plays, task-based exercises etc.) and after that we applied the rules in writing as well.

  • Don’t mind the grammatical errors, they will disappear later on. And even if they don’t, it is not the end of the world. No-one makes mistakes on purpose (unless they are joking).
  • Don’t be pleased with mechanical written exercises and stop there, if your students can do better.

My greatest concerns with grammar at this point have always been:

  • Which of the three methods of dealing with the rules should I choose?
  • Can I go straight to communicative exercises or should I proceed in this particular order 1) mechanical, 2) semi-communicative or 3) communicative exercises.
  • Is there a way to differentiate the learning of grammar?
  • What else should I take into account when teaching grammar?

MY RECOMMENDED GUIDELINES FOR TEACHING GRAMMAR

1 Start with a pre-task where the students use the new structure and become subconsciously aware of the structure, minimal chance for mistakes. Find someone who … is my favourite CLT pre-task: no chance to make mistakes but the students talk a lot and get a feeling of the new structure. See my example below.

2 Choose an appropriate ‘method’ of dealing with the rules.
a) the inductive method; it is in most cases the one I favour, the students work out the rules themselves using some examples, the effort and thinking result in the students remembering the rules better

b) the decuctive method; the teacher explains the rules and lets the students apply them in exercises; some rules are too complicated for the students to work out or it would simply take too much time

c) the lexical approach; rules are seldom given at all but they are learnt using fixed/set grammatical patterns as models for the structures; most appropriate for beginners and elementary class students whose conceptual thinking is not high enough to grasp abstract rules

THE TEACHER KNOWS HIS/HER CLASS BEST – AND HE/SHE IS THEREFORE ENTITLED TO CHOOSE a), b) or c) in each case.

3 Be prepared to differentiate the teaching of grammar. Low-achievers are able to recognize the structures and apply them in simple sentences with models. Advanced students can be very creative with the structures once they know the rule.
These methods and approaches are dealt with in more detail in the next articles.

Examples on each Task type

Let me demonstrate how to proceed from a pre-task to a mechanical exercise towards a communicative one. This is a written example but it could be carried out orally as well.

Pre-task, Find someone who

The pre-task is a combination or ‘indefinitive pronouns’ and ‘the perfect tense’ The students present the Yes/No-questions and write the name of those who answer ‘Yes’ in the box.

1 Have you seen any Tarzan films?Michael
2 Has your dad used any vehicle this morning/afternoon?
3 Has somebody told you a joke today?
4 Have you done every school task for today?
5 Has you mum already gone to work or somewhere else this morning/afternoon?Alison
6 Has anyone listened to the Beatles today?
Some of the questions are hard ones on purpose and the students have to repat the questions many times.
The same name may appear only once in the list. After five minutes the sentences are read in groups of four: ‘Michael has seen (some) Tarzan films’ etc. The same sentences can be used in the formulation of the rules.

3 types of grammatical exercises

i) A mechanical task with no real-life context and communicative purpose. However, one must not underestimate these kind of tasks since they also require a lot of knowledge of the target language.

A: What have you done today?
B: I __________________ a letter? (write)
A: What has your mum done today?
B: She _______________________ the bathroom. (clean)
A: What have your classmates done this week?
B: They ______________________ swimming. (go)
A: What have you done this summer?
B: I ___________________ to drive a car and I ________________ a lot of French. (learn, speak)
The rule for the perfect tense ‘has/have + 3rd form of the verb’ has to be known and applied but we have only isolated sentences with no connection to real life. A very easy drill and a gap exercise. Still, some students get no further than this level.

ii) A semi-commmunicative task, the context and the conversation is more natural. Still, the problem is that there is no room for creativity and the students are tied to use the phrases and verbs given.

Let’s practice the past continous forms (was/were + -ing-form)
Jim: Hi, Brenda. I heard you were in an accident. What happened?
Brenda: Hi, Jim. Yes, but I’m ok. My dad ___________________ (drive) our Toyota near the beach and I ______________________ (sit) next to him when a lorry hit us from behind.
Jim: Oh, dear. _______ it _______________ (rain) or something or what was the reason for the accident?
Brenda: No, no. The sun _______________________ (shine) and the weather was fine.
Jim: What was it then? Maybe the lorry driver __________________ (talk) on the phone and didn’t see when you ____________________ (slow down).
Brenda: No, the police think that the breaks of the lorry ________________ (not, work) properly.
Jim: Well, thank God you are fine. My father ________________ (check) our car yesterday when I came home. But it seemed to be alright.
Advanced students do this exercise in two minutes and do not find it challenging and motivating. Yes, it resembles ordinary discussion but … So we need to give them a creative challenge.

iii) A true communicative task. The students are free to create a story of their own and also use other linguistic means than the grammar point referred to in the guidance part under the photos.

Task: Look at the photos and write a story in pairs or in a group of three on the basis of the photos. You do not have to use all photos and you can add other ideas too. The title: ‘Me as an eye-witness’

You are free to create your own story but you must include the following ideas in your story:

  • What was the incident? What was the time when the incident happened? Where were you in New York?
  • What were you and the people around you doing when the incident took place?
  • You called home and your friends. What were your parents and your friends doing at that time?
  • How did it all end?

How does differentiation work if these recommendations are followed?

Stage 1: The pre-task. It is a compulsory task for everybody.

Stage 2: The students are completely free to choose any of the three exercise types: 1) Mechanical exercises 2) Semi-communicative exercises or 3) Communicative exercises.

In other words, some students choose 1) or 2) or 3) only and ignore the rest. The others might take 1) and 2) or 2) and 3) etc. without the teacher telling them which one to choose. The best ones might take only 3) and expand that one even further.

Of course when you are introducing this idea to the students, you can tell them that this is the difficulty order as well but later on it is not necessary any more.

All three approaches how to cope with the grammatical rules will be dealt with in more detail in the following articles. The final grammar article is about the Dodson method, which is one methological option in teaching slow learners and beginners. The interesting thing in it is how the teacher makes use of the mother tongue in this method.

Writing

TEACHING BEGINNERS WRITING, differentiation

Leave a comment

Use some pre-tasks to stir the imagination of the students before you ask them to write anything. Photos are excellent in this respect.

Learning a foreign language is usually started with listening and speaking. The words and phrases learnt may be shown as visual stimuli but actual reading and writing takes place a bit later when the students are given a textbook.

Writing in its simpliest form means

  • writing down or copying words, word lists or short sentences; the teacher shows a picture and the students write the word for it; the teacher says words aloud and the students write them down, etc.
  • dictation: the teacher reads simple sentences or stories and the students write them down, filling in words in a text with gaps or some missing words in a song
  • writing down simple sentences either copying them from the book, copying part of the sentence and changing part of it
  • elaboration: students make sentences or simple stories using some words given to them
  • free creative writing: the students write a fictive story using or ignoring the prompts given by the teacher

All in all, writing starts from individual words, continues in writing simple sentences which at its best are creative in the sense that they are not copied from the textbook chapters. Learning to write well is a long process and both teachers and students have to be patient until the very end of studies.

At the beginning pupils need a lot of guidance from the teacher but as they get older most students benefit from being allowed to be creative and all they need to get going is a set of titles or pictures to choose from.

Differentiation in mixed-ability classes

However, all teachers know that there is a tremendous variation in writing skills in mixed-ability classes. Let’s have a look at the following example and see how the teacher can differentiate the writing task so that the pupils can work at their own level. They know how past tenses of regular verbs are formed and some 30 irregular past tenses.

The formula of differentiation is simple

  1. Revision is done the previous lesson on vocabulary and the grammatical point we wish to emphasize. The topic has to be based on the chapters that were recently studied.
  2. A couple of oral pre-tasks are done in pairs or groups at the beginning of the writing session as a reminder.
  3. Three (or two) choices how to get started with writing. The only difference is in how much of the guidence provided by the teacher the students are making use of.

For example Title: Last summer Be as creative as you wish.

Pre-tasks: The idea is to force 6th graders to use the past tense in telling what happened last summer. The past tense was practised the previous week but we will do a couple of warm-up exercices as a reminder.

Many students find it hard to get started with writing so we need to stir their imagination a bit with some pre-tasks, A) and B) below.

A) The students change a story on the screen written is the present tense to the past tense. It is an oral exercise done in pairs. The second time the students do the same thing but have to change something in every sentence. (5 min) In other words, the mechanical 1st version is turned to a semi-communicative more creative version.

Jane likes to go shopping on Saturday mornings. She usually goes to town by bus but sometimes she takes her own car if she plans to buy some big things. It is eight o’clock and Jane gets up, brushes her teeth and makes morning coffee. She also drinks some water and eats a banana and two sanwiches …
The story is unfinished here and would need 3 – 4 sentences more. If the students do not know the answers, they need to negotiate between themselves and finally consult another pair or the teacher. Some students get only the 1st reading done, others maybe have 3 different versions.

B) The students get into groups of four and make a mind map on what they could write about. 5 min planning. Something like this, just throwing in ideas that can be used or ignored.

C) Write a true or imaginative story of what happened to you, your friends and/or your family last summer. Choose any of the three options below.

Choice A Choice BChoice C (the easiest one)
Feel free to write a creative story. It does not have to be true.You may use the beginning of the sentences below as part of you story. 1) Answer the questions OR 2) Fill in the story with any ideas that please you. The first letter or two are sometimes given to you. You are welcome to write sentences of your own too.
Last summer I and my best friend went to … because we …
First we … the train to …
Secondly, we …
After four hours we … because …
When we came back late in the evening we …

The next week me and my family ….
We … there by … and the following morning we … because …
1) What did you do last summer and why? Where did you go and with whom? Pick four places and explain about them. How did you get the money for ? Why did you go there? How did you get there and back? What were the best things you did there? … OR
2) Last summer my family m… a trip to … and we stay… in a ho… for … days. We sw… in the swimming pool for many ho… and at lunch time we we.. very hungry a… like a horse. My mum w… to the nearby village and bo…. herself some new clothes. My dad likes reading so he r… some short stories when we we… swimming.
Just before we le… the hotel on the last d…, we pick… up apples and strawberries. They co.. very little. My dad dr… us back home and …
A week later we …
The best thing last summer was when we …
When school started …


(Surprisingly many students give up this choice because it is not creative and because the modified cloze text (2) actually requires reading comprehension and a lot of thinking.) In most classes Choices B and C might be enough.
Choice A is for advanced students, B for average ones and C for weaker students. Still, we let them choose any of the options. The more there are sentences and ideas produced by the student him-/herself the better, He/she has to be rewarded with higher marks.

At first glance this kind of differentiation may seem troublesome but if you think about it from the students’ point of view, it shows that you care and try to make writing a more pleasant experience for them. Especially the weak writers need a lot of support and ideas. On the other hand, this way we do not tie the hands of more advanced students.

How does one evaluate stories like this?

This is an interesting question but I like to keep things simple.

Teacher evaluation: In our Finnish system we use grading 4 – 10. 10 is the highest grade and 4 means failure. This is what I tell my students:

  • Choice A suggests you are heading for Grade 9 or 10.
  • Choice B implies you wish to get Grade 7 or 8
  • Choice C basically means you aim at Grade 5 or 6
  • BUT the evaluation is not that simple since everyone can use the ideas given in Choice B and C. Therefore I simply have to consider the level of creativeness and language in general because someone who makes use of Choice C may well come up with a perfectly original story and deserves a high grade.
  • On the other hand, someone who chooses Choice A and writes an appaling story does not deserve a high grade.
  • SO, in the end I am simply using the national criteria in giving the grades but take into account how much the writer leans on the guidance given.

Student/Peer evaluation in writing

Letting the students read each other’s stories and assessing them is a delicate process of its own. In my opinion the students find it very interesting and it is great to have a group of other people who read the story in addition to the teacher. However, note the following points:

  • Ask the students not to write their names on the papers. The writers draw a symbol on the paper to identify their work later on.
  • Young students can indicate with some positive symbols how much they liked the story. 1 – 5 stars or roses, etc.
  • Junior high students (ages 11 -15) can use positive symbols and write only positive comments about the story. If they do not understand something they can put a question mark (?) in the margin.
  • Some junior high classes might be mature enough to give some constructive feedback also on the challenges or the ways the story could be made better. They might even be able to suggest the grade if they are familiar with the criteria/rubric.
  • The assessment can also be done in (randomly selected) pairs.
  • All the feedback is done in class before there are any teacher’s markings on the papers. The teacher moves around the class when the ‘assessment’ is going on because this is a dead-serious business and nobody’s feelings are to be hurt.
  • Senior high students benefit a lot if they are allowed to assess each other’s stories, essays or any other type of written assignments.
  • They will 1) get a realistic view on how good writers they are compared with others, 2) They will learn to interpret the criteria better and realize which writing skill elements they need to improve themselves, 3) They will have to think carefully how to apply all the advice given to them by the teacher. 4) They will be more motivated to write the texts since they know someone else than the teacher will be reading them too.

I hope you now realize how different the writing process becomes if it is done at least roughly as I suggest above. To me the benefits are undeniable and in the long run the teacher’s workload is not increased.

Class management

Active listening, I-messages and Win-win solutions

Leave a comment

Gordon’s principles are simple but to learn to apply them takes quite a while: ‘Active listening’, ‘I-messages’ and ‘Win-win solutions’

A   IF THERE IS NO PROBLEM WITH A CLASS … Gordon’s model is still helpful I have been using it for over 40 years. It is very simple but it is magical how it works. Still, I learnt it gradually by trial and error.

The class atmosphere and study habits should be under constant scrutiny. Gordon’s model that will be presented in more detail below has its place with the whole class and even in one-to-one situations with the teacher and a student even if things are running smoothly.

When students have a problem, the best way to solve it so that both parties are satisfied is to lead the students to find the solution themselves by discussion and active listening. Gordon’s model is something we do not automatically apply. We have to practise it for a while using trial and error mothod.

So what is the teacher supposed to do and say when a problem emerges?

Gordon’s model to solve conflict or problematic situations is accepted all over the world and even if it is rather simple in theory it requires a lot of practice since we are slaves of our own bad habits.                          

The Gordon method has only three stages:

Stage 1

  • Active listening: The teacher asks the students to explain what happened or what the problem is but takes no stand on the matter. No comments on who is right or who is to be blamed. He/She simply interprets and rephrases the students’ thoughts and feelings saying them aloud and leads the students to find the solution by themselves.

    • Stage 2

  • Sending I-messages: To avoid giving any judgements the teacher just states the situation at hand and expresses the feeling(s) he/she has due to the situation/incident. We usually send YOU-messages in which we judge or criticize other people and it breaks the communication.
    • (See the previous article)

    Stage 3

  • Win-win solution: This is the process that leads to a situation where the problem-owners themselves to find a solution that satisfies everybody’s needs and benefits.
    • The most common question at this point is: “So, how do you suggest we solve this matter?”

    Active listening

    1. First use Passive listening: The teacher simply listens to the comments of the students with only minor phrases like ‘hm’ / ‘really’ / ‘aah‘ to keep the monologue going. The student thinks: “Finally someone listens to my point of view.” The most difficult thing for us teacher is to be quiet and not ask questions, comfort, advise or warn. We must not offer a ready-made solution to the problem but the student must come up with one him/herself.
    2. Secondly, Keep the door open –use phrases such as ‘That’s an interesting point … Really? Wow, unbelievable! I’d like to hear more about it …’ to encourage the speaker to continue, to pour out everything. Do not advise, comment, warn or anything. Remain impartial and otherwise quiet.
    3. Thirdly, train yourself to interpret what the student’s real message is. That message is often expressed implicitly, in an indirect way. It is often tricked by fear of something or feeling of humiliation or anger, for example.                          

    The teacher’s response must have two parts: rephrasing the content of the message and adding the feeling or emotional state the student is in. (angry, afraid, annoyed, disappointed, humiliated, surprised, puzzled, pleased …) Note also how the teacher uses I-messages instead of you-messages which mostly carry a negative tone and the student is unwilling to co-operate after hearing them. You-messages solve the problem only from the point of view of the teacher, often at the expense of the student’s self-esteem

    4. Finally ask the student what he/she thinks would be the best solution to the problem. This is the final step towards the ‘Win-win solution’

    Don’t worry! Look at the sample dialogues in the next article and you will grasp the whole technique. Sample A is straight-forward and Sample B a bit more complicated. Practise the technique the next time you have a problem at school and you will never forget it. I have been using it for over 40 years.

    Sample A ACTIVE LISTENING

    Let’s take an example where THE STUDENT HAS A (HIDDEN) PROBLEM and needs advice.

    In this kind of situation where the student has not done anything wrong only active listening is needed and the teacher may even suggest the solution because he/she is the expert.

    The situation: Jane has been absent a lot and is worried that she will not be able to get a good grade for the course since there is so much catching-up work to do. On the surface level she is only asking if there will be an exam but …

    See how ‘active listening utterances’ work in practice. Marked * ; Win-win solution question Marked ** and the student’s suggested solution ***

    Jane: ‘Are we having an exam soon, sir?’
    Teacher: ‘Yes, next week. Chapters 8 to 12 and the passive voice.’ Wrong interpretation because Jane probably already knows about the exam. So the reason for asking is something else: Fear of failure!

    Let’s try again!
    Jane: ‘Are we having an exam soon, sir?
    Teacher: ‘Ah, you want to know the date because you are afraid it might be a hard one.’ *
    Jane: ‘ Yes, because I have been so much absent due to my illness and I want to do well in it.’
    Teacher: ‘You are worried about your grade in this course because of the missed classes.’ *
    Jane: ‘Yes, I need a good grade in English so I can go on a language course to London.’
    Teacher: ‘London, that’s great. So you would be disappointed if you cannot go there. * What did you have in mind about the exam?’ **
    Jane: ‘Well, we have been talking about asking you what the question types are going to be and if we have to write many essays.’ ***
    Teacher: ‘Good question. I was just planning to send the instructions to the whole class how to prepare for the test. Besides, we will have a practice lesson next week.’
    Jane: ‘Great, have a good day, sir.’
    Teacher: ‘Same to you. I am sure everyone will do just fine since you have been so active all through the course.’
    Learning this technique meant the world to me.

    Sample B I-MESSAGES, ACTIVE LISTENING  and  WIN-WIN SOLUTION

    A situation where the TEACHER HAS A PROBLEM:

    The situation: Two boys loudly accusing each other of something. They cause disturbing noise. The teacher’s problem: He has to stop teaching an important matter. Consequently, other students’ focus is lost and now time will be wasted.

    Teacher: ‘Jim, what is the matter? I get nervous when I have to stop explaining this formula since there is so much noise in the class.’
    Jim: ‘Tom banged me on the head with his book, sir.’
    Tom: ‘But you threw your eraser right on my head.’
    Teacher: ‘So Jim threw his eraser at Tom and you, Tom, got angry because it hurt a lot. And you Tom wanted to have your revenge since you were so furious about the sudden attack. And you Jim feel it is unfair that the bang on your head hurt much more than what you did to Tom. Right?
    Boys: ‘Yes, sir.’
    Teacher: ‘I don’t want these things happening in my class since I get disappointed when we are wasting valuable lesson time. What do you suggest we should do now?’
    Tom: ‘Sorry, sir. I’ll try to control my temper next time.’
    Jim: ‘Me too. Sorry, sir.’
    In practice the teacher might have this conversation after the lesson.

    Note that the teacher is sending I-messages, doing active listening and interpreting the real messages: both boys are angry since they have been physically hurt but at the same time both boys are guilty anyway.

    Active listening: The teacher is rephrasing the situation and expressing the feelings the boys have. No judgement who is right and who is wrong. The boys get a feeling that the teacher is fair, on their side and understands the emotional turmoil they are going through. Then they can move on to the vital question: ‘Now boys, what do you think we should do?’ which leads to a win-win situation/solution.

    It is very simple but magical how it works. Not only with students but with people in general. Try it out yourself!

    Class management

    Gordon’s method, a sample dialogue

    Leave a comment

    So far we have dealt with the following topics on class management and control:

    1. 10 basic principles in class control
    2. The importance of planning the first lesson well
    3. What are the qualities of a good teacher?
    4. What are the qualities of a bad teacher?
    5. Class control, how to succeed and fail in it
    6. Gordon’s method, a wise teacher, the student-teacher relationships

    In this article I will comment on Point 6, a fictional situation as an introduction to Gordon’s method in dealing with problematic situations.

    You may be the only adult who cares about a student who is causing problems at school. What a responsibility!

    The work of a teacher is not an easy one. There are lots of variables that affect the situations we are facing daily. That is why we need to have clear principles that we follow in our work and our students have to know them and agree to comply with them.

    We have to be fair, reliable and consistent in what we do, and treat every student equally. Dealing with people is not an easy job. Still we have to develop a psychological eye and emotional intelligence: what works with student A does not necessarily work with student B.

    When a problematic situation emerges the easiest thing to do is to give up, contact a special teacher or the head of the school or to punish the student. None of these things works properly since the cause of bad behaviour remains hidden. I do not believe in punishments but what is there left? … Meeting eye to eye relying on mutual respect!

    Bad behaviour is usually just a reflection of some bad things in the life of the student: parents’ drinking problems, home violence and bullying, financial difficulties, unemployment, finding acceptance from other youngsters … So we need to see through the bad behaviour and get to the bottom of the issue.

    My best advice to solve these problematic situations is to have a private conversation with the student. The conversation below is a fictional one but see if you can spot my tactics based on Gordon’s principles.

    Read this dialogue first and then the one below with my comments.

    Me: You know why we are sitting here, don’t you?
    St: Yes, but Jimmy hit me first in the corridor and threw my cap on the floor. He’s an idiot and bullies me every day.
    Me: So, you find it hard to control your emotions since you can’t bear the way he treats you. Right?
    St: Hm, and I don’t want the others to laugh at me. I’m fed up with no-one doing anything about Jimmy. It’s him who should be sitting here, not me.
    Me: Thanks for telling me. I will deal with him later but I will not mention your name, ok! But I think there is something else troubling your mind. You often seem very tired and you’re often late for lessons.
    Is there anything I should know?
    St: No, not really. I’m ok. I just have to take it as it comes.
    Me: You know that this is between you and me. It’s confidential and I can see there is something going on. I don’t want your talents to be wasted.
    St: Well, my dad lost his job four months ago and he started drinking and my mum quarrels with him every day. We kids try to stay out of it but it is getting rough and I’m scared of what may happen.
    Me: So, you cannot really focus on school work because of the things going on at home. Is it ok if I ask the social curator to contact your mum to clarify your and the other kids’ point of view.
    St: Yeah. I do not dare to talk about it to my parents. They might kick me out of the house.
    Me: I’m glad you told me this. I understand your behaviour better now. I don’t think it was right but I know all these things in your mind it may be hard for you to control your reactions.
    St: Yes, I know if this goes on I will never get the grades I was hoping for. I will never pass the A-levels and get to uni.
    Me: I think so too. So, what do you suggest we should do?
    St: If you promise to talk to the curator and try to deal with Jimmy, I will talk to my classmates how to stop Jimmy from bullying. It’s not just me. Once the teachers don’t see, he picks on someone. Anyone will do.
    Me: Ok, thanks. I have a clear picture of the situation now. Can we meet again next Friday and see where we stand?
    St: Sure. Thanks, I need to go. The math lesson is starting.
    I have the ‘Gordon-based’ comments on this dialogue below. I learnt the principles in the late 1980s and never gave them up. Besides, they work not only with students but with the kids at home, the wife, whoever …
    Paradise or desert? Hope or despair? What is in the mind of the student when the discussion is over?

    And here’s the same dialogue with my comments!

    Me: You know why we are sitting here, don’t you? (I am not blaming the student but imply something has gone wrong)
    St: Yes, but Jimmy hit me first in the corridor and threw my cap on the floor. He’s an idiot and bullies me every day. (St gives his version of the incident and what caused it.)
    Me: So, you find it hard to control your emotions since you can’t bear the way he treats you. Right? (I use ‘active listening’ in Gordens terms: I interpret the feelings of the boy and imply I undestand his views even if I may not approve of his behaviour)
    St: Hm, and I don’t want the others to laugh at me. I’m fed up with no-one doing anything about Jimmy. It’s him who should be sitting here, not me. (The boy gives other reasons for his irritation and finds the situation unfair.)
    Me: Thanks for telling me. I will deal with him later but I will not mention your name, ok! But I think there is something else troubling your mind. I feel sorry for you since you oftem seem very tired and you’re often late for lessons.
    Is there anything I should know? (Thanking the boy implies that I am on the boy’s side and will act upon the problem. I send him ‘I-message’ expressing my feelings for him trying to make him open up about the real problem that has not even been talked about.)
    St: No, not really. I’m ok. I just have to take it as it comes. (The boy does not trust me yet and denies there is anything else going on. Even if he stopped talking to me at this point, he knows someone = me is willing to help him.)
    Me: You know that this is between you and me. It’s confidential and I can see there is something going on. I don’t want your talents to be wasted. (I try to make the boy rely on me and send another I-message implying I am worried and I like him and think he has good qualities.)
    St: Well, my dad lost his job four months ago and he started drinking and my mum quarrels with him every day. We kids try to stay out of it but it is getting rough and I’m scared of what may happen. (The boy opens up about the TRUE REASON why he is behaving badly: his life at home is a mess.)
    Me: So, you cannot really focus on school work because of the things going on at home. Is it ok if I ask the social curator to contact your mum to clarify your and the other kids’ point of view. (I use ‘active listening’ to check if I got it right suggest an adult solution to the problems at home because I don’t think the boy would come up with this idea.)
    St: Yeah. I do not dare to talk about it to my parents. They might kick me out of the house. (The boy realizes I am on his side and tells me why he has kept the issue to himself. If I didn’t know the real reasons for his behaviour, I would treat him differently.)
    Me: I’m glad you told me this. I understand your behaviour better now. I don’t think it was right what you did but I know all these things in your mind it may be hard for you to control your reactions. (I show the boy empathy with my I-messages even if I do not approve of his behaviour.)
    St: Yes, I know if this goes on I will never get the grades I was hoping for. I will never pass the A-levels and get to uni. (Now the boy seems to trust me even more and tells me about another thing troubling his mind.)
    Me: I think so too. So, what do you suggest we should do? (NOTE, I do not give him the solution to the ‘Jimmy’ problem. He has to come up with it himself. In Gordon’s terms: it is a ‘win-win’ situation, both are happy at the end of the discussion.
    St: If you promise to talk to the curator and try to deal with Jimmy, I will talk to my classmates how to stop Jimmy from bullying. It’s not just me. Once the teachers don’t see, he picks on someone. Anyone will do. (The boy suggests a solution and gets the matter out of his chest.)
    Me: Ok, thanks. I have a clear picture of the situation now. Can we meet again next Friday and see where we stand? (I approve of the solution and will act upon it accordingly. Then I agree on a date when we will check if the solution has worked.)
    St: Sure. Thanks, I need to go. The math lesson is starting. (The boy expresses his gratitude and seems to want to study eagerly.)

    If we desert a problematic student, there may be no-one else to help him/her. However, when the matter is solved, our reward is to see smile back on the student’s face. Patience is a virtue!

    The next article will deal with the Gordon method of solving problematic situations in more detail.

    1. Active listening
    2. Sending I-messages
    3. Win-win solutions

    Reading

    READING STRATEGIES, SPOTTING MAIN IDEAS

    Leave a comment
    Oman versus Finland Move the arrows to see the photos in full!

    Logical, well-structured texts often follow generally accepted conventions and if the students are aware of them, they can create expectations that help understanding a text.

    • The use of the word ‘strategy’ implies that there are ways and techniques that will make us better readers; approaches that should be taught and can be learnt in a short period of time.
    • In the previous article I already discussed some of the strategies but this time we focus on finding the key sentences in a text.
    • Discuss the strategies with your students at some point, in advance or afterwards. They will see that you really care!
    • Practise the strategies little by little and let the students pick up the ones that work for them. Many of the ideas will enhance writing as well.

    Finding the main ideas in a text, strategies for the students to apply

    The very same strategies that work in reading work beautifully also in writing logical, well-structured essays, for instance. Even at university level.

    1. PARAGRAPH 1 See if the main topic is introduced or implied in the first sentence or at the beginning of the text. (This way the reader is supposed to get an idea what the text is about.)
    2. END of PARAGRAPH 1 Then see if the main idea or/and argument of the whole text is at the END of the first paragraph. (This are the standard places to introduce thetopic and the key idea of the whole text.)
    3. OTHER PARAGRAPHS See if the main idea/topic sentence is in the first sentence of each paragraph. (This is a standard place to introduce the key idea of each pragraph.)
    4. Sometimes if the writer is not logical enough, the main idea may be anywhere in the paragraph. So be aware, just in case.
    5. Having found the topic for each paragraph, give each of them a heading.
    6. OTHER WAYS TO DEEPEN UNDERSTANDING Make a mind map, notes in the margin or bullet points in your notebook
    7. Make an oral summary of the text in your own words in pairs.

    Spotting the main ideas in a text is a skill of its own and it requires both language and thinking skills.

    The following task is an example how you can teach how the students can find the main sentences in a text. Suggested answers at the end of the article!

    Having done this or similar exercises the students can easily spot the weaknesses in the logic and structure of texts. They can also apply the same principles in writing texts.

    TASK 1: Look at the text below and see if you can spot the main ideas in the text and apply the other strategies. Use points 1 – 4 above and do 5. or/and 6. or 7. if you have time.

    LEARNING ABOUT THE UNKNOWN

    There are a great number of interesting countries that I have visited over the last 40 years. Those who fly abroad, see the airport, a few hotels and restaurants and the beach learn very little about the real culture and life in the country they are visiting. One has to step outside, talk to locals and get to know their way of thinking, their habits and beliefs before one gets a reliable perspective to the country itself.

    Few people have visited Oman and know anything about its history and the facts related to it. About 50 years ago Oman was nowhere near the developed country it is today. In the early 1970s there were only seven kilometres of asphalt in Oman and only three schools, for boys only. The infrastructure was non-existent. Hundreds of years before, vessels in the Indian Ocean had brought thousands of slaves to its shores to be sold.

    When Sultan Qaboos, who died in 2020, took over power from his father in 1970, he faced an immense task in modernizing the country. Thanks to oil business the change was possible and progress was made quickly with the help of local clan leaders and foreign companies. Nevertheless, due to the drastic decrease in oil prices Oman has to find other sources of funds to keep on developing.

    Oman has many similarities with Finland even if they are situated far apart. There are 2, 4 million Omanis and 1,8 million immigrant workers in Oman. The population of Finland is somewhat over 5 million. Both countries are about 1100 kilometres long and have a long coastline. They are both surrounded by powerful countries and are keeping a low profile in world politics, acting often as mediators in conflicts. In addition, they are both very safe and liberal countries.

    Hints on possible findings on the text above are at the end of this article.

    Towards deep-level analysis

    Demanding reading tasks especially in the senior high classes often require reading at a deep level: reading between the lines and making inferences and conclusions on the text , spotting ideas that are more or less hidden, implicit or unclear on purpose.

    1. Figure out what the writer’s point of view is (for / against / balanced / biased) and then find the words and phrases that support you interpretation. Is the writer sometimes in favour or against some people or ideas.
    2. Discuss with your pair why/if some parts were difficult to understand. Often it is not your fault but the writer’s.
    3. Compare your original predictions or assumptions about the ideas in the text with the real ones found in the text.
    4. Was the text worth reading and useful? What would you add or take away from it? Which things would you like to know more about?
    5. What was the tone of the text like? Akward, appealing, humorous, serious, full of facts, surprising, upsetting … Which words make you think that way? Does the tone vary?

    TASK 2: Ask the students to work in pairs or groups and ADD nouns, adjectives, verb phrases etc. to change the meaning of the whole text above (more positive or negative or biased or humorous) Orally or in writing! This task will make your students more aware of the effect of word choices and how they affect the readers’ interpretations.

    Suggested answers to Reading Task 1

    LEARNING ABOUT THE UNKNOWN

    There are a great number of interesting countries that I have visited over the last 40 years. (= topic sentence) Those who fly abroad, see the airport, a few hotels and restaurants and the beach learn very little about the real culture and life in the country they are visiting. One has to step outside, talk to locals and get to know their way of thinking, their habits and beliefs before one gets a reliable perspective to the country itself. (= thesis statement/ main argument for the whole text)

    The title is unclear on purpose. The reader needs to start reading and realize that ‘the unknown’ refers to unknown countries and their culture. The word ‘I’ implies potential subjectivity in the text. The tone is mildly critical towards tourists who only want to lie on the beach and fool around.

    A drastic change in 50 years

    Few people have visited Oman and know anything about its history and the facts related to it. About 50 years ago Oman was nowhere near the developed country it is today. In the early 1970s there were only seven kilometres of asphalt in Oman and only three schools, for boys only. The infrastructure was non-existent. Hundreds of years before, vessels in the Indian Ocean had brought thousands of slaves to its shores to be sold.

    The 2nd paragraph opens up with a clear topic sentence. It refers to Oman, a country known only to a few. The idea is to tempt the reader to learn more about Oman. The rest of the paragraph creates strong, visual, even surprising images.

    sultan qaboos – the saviour

    When Sultan Qaboos, who died in 2020, took over power from his father in 1970, he faced an immense task in modernizing the country. Thanks to oil business the change was possible and progress was made quickly with the help of local clan leaders and foreign companies. Nevertheless, due to the drastic decrease in oil prices Oman has to find other sources of funds to keep on developing.

    Paragraph 3 emphasizes the crucial role of Sultan Qaboos in developing Oman. The link to the previous paragraph is clear and now we learn how the change was possible and why the situation is more difficult these days.

    LOW PROFILE PEACE-MAKERS

    Oman has many similarities with Finland even if they are situated far apart. There are 2, 4 million Omanis and 1,8 million immigrant workers in Oman. The population of Finland is somewhat over 5 million. Both countries are about 1100 kilometres long and have a long coastline. They are both surrounded by powerful countries and are keeping a low profile in world politics, acting often as mediators in conflicts. In addition, they are both very safe and liberal countries.

    The comparison between Oman and Finland may at first seem far-fetched until you readers realize that I, the writer, am Finnish and that I have worked in Oman and have a lot of inside knowledge of it.

    Finding the key ideas in a text is of vital importance from the point of view of understanding a text.

    In addition the very same priciples may be used by the students when they are writing logical coherent texts and essays.

    The following article deals with strategies that students should be using in reading comprehension exams and a model lesson how to introduce these ideas is also included.

    Reading

    Strategies to be used before, during and after reading comprehension exams

    Leave a comment

    There is no hope of improving reading skills until the reasons for NOT UNDERSTANDING the text are identified by the students themselves and they commit themselves to overcome the problems.

    It is essential for teachers to realize that the process of decoding someone else’s messages is not the same with everybody. We are all different and depending on our background and style of learning we process information differently. Our problems in reading may also vary drastically.

    Just like listening, reading skill is hard to teach because we have no control of the process in the reader’s mind. Still, we can affect the process indirectly by giving advice and guidance. The general CLT principle which is in favour of a great amount of input resulting in good results needs to be supported by teaching strategies on how to prepare for reading comprehension exams and how we can learn from our mistakes in taking exams.

    If you are teaching senior high students, I suggest you go through the whole process once with your students and then get feedback from them if it turned out to be worth the time spent on it.

    • Strategies are dealt with the students before an exam
    • You, the teacher, study how the returning of the exam is to be arranged
    • Arrange a student-centred lesson to return the exam
    • Show the students the ‘heureka’ type of comments to be used

    Strategies / tips for students in a reading comprehension exam

    Let’s have a look at some strategies that are useful when students take a reading comprehension exam. Some of them are actually the same as in listening exams. Still, learning to apply the strategies does not take place over night. It also requires some practice.

    Throwing the students one text or exam after another and assuming that massive input will automatically improve reading skill does not necessarily lead to success with everybody. It is better to teach the students how they should approach an ordinary or an exam text.

    • Relax your body. Take a couple of deep breaths! It will calm your nerves. Being nervous won’t help you.
    • Read the whole text through at first but do not stop even if you do not understand the text perfectly. This way you will have a better idea about the topic and structure of the text.
    • If the logic of the text is good, you can easily spot the main ideas and sentences. The rest of the text is justifications of the arguments or examples.
    • Start working on the questions only if you read the whole text first. Many ideas open up if you know the exact topic and the perspective of the writer.
    • Once you understand the topic and the questions, you can guess many things they talk about. If you use common sense and your background knowledge on the topic you may find it helpful.
    • Read the questions carefully and focus only on them.
    • Most of the information in the text is not needed. It may be irrelevant.
    • Don’t panic if you see new words. Try to guess what they mean. Very often you need not know the meaning of new words at all.
    • Be aware and watch out for extreme words like ‘never’ ‘only’ ‘always’ ‘anyone’. They are often too strong.
    • Link ideas that have the same meaning. For example: If the idea in the text is expressed “He used to go fishing on Saturdays and Sundays.” the same idea is in the answer booklet as “He was in the habit of catching salmon and trout at weekends.”
    • So the most common technique is just to express the same idea in other words.
    • If your exam consists of multiple choice tasks, use elimination technique. For example: Choice A was not talked about at all, Choice B is wrong because they said ’everybody’ which is not true, Choice D is wrong because ‘chance’ means different from ‘change’… SO the right answer has to be Choice C. You have now eliminated the wrong answers and you will answer C (even if you may not know exactly why).

    Strategic tips for the teacher about returning an exam

    1. Have an exam for the students and when you return it devote a whole lesson to go through the exam in detail, every question and every alternative. I explain the process in detail in the next article.
    2. Demonstrate with the first two questions how the analysis is done and then let the students discuss the other questions in groups. Have star students leading the discussion without lecturing the right answers. See my next article.
    3. Don’t interfere with the group discussions but take notes on the problems the groups do not seem to solve well. Answer the students questions at the end of the lesson and point out your own observations.
    4. Now the students should have a vague idea what the reasons for the mistakes are. In other words, they may have identified some of the problem areas.
    5. Now that the students are motivated to hear more it is time to have another lesson where you go through my strategy tips for an exam. Show the tips one by one on the screen and let the students ask questions on them. Give the list as a handout after the discussion with my copyright. Let them have it even in exams.
    6. If you think your class will not be able to discuss these matters in English, let them use the mother tongue to make sure the messages get through.
    7. Make each student write in English what they have learnt over these two lessons and what they are planning to do to overcome the difficulties.
    8. Show them my ‘heureka’ comments on the screen as models of the kind of comments you are looking for. See below!
    9. Collect the comments and give feedback on them in the 3rd reading comprehension enhancement lesson.
    10. Now you have done your job: you gave your students the tools for improvement. Nevertheless, they are the ones who have to start working. Probably making use of the other strategies that I have been talking about.

    The students have to come up with ‘heureka’ realizations like …

    • Ah, I think I worry too much about words I have never seen and stop reading because of them and get frustrated. SO, next time I will try to guess the meanings or maybe the word is not important at all or knowing if the word has a positive or negative meaning on the basis of the context is enough.
    • Ah, ‘carry out’ and ‘realize’ can sometimes mean the same OR ‘no adequate funds’ is the same as ‘not enough money’ or ‘lack of sufficient resources’. SO, my problem is vocabulary and learning many ways to say the same thing.
    • Ah, I stumble over the same structures over and over again. Shortened sentences, never heard. Wow! ‘Having left for downtown’ is a shortened sentence meaning the same as ‘When I had started to drive towards the city center’ SO, I have to study grammar more because I always stop at this kind of structures and do not get the meaning.
    • Ah, my mistake is that I start reading by translating the text word by word. SO, I have to stop translation tactics because it is too slow. Working through mother tongue will not do. I have to learn to think in English.
    • Ah, I have been too much in a hurry. I usually start by reading Question 1 and then look at the text without knowing what the whole text is about. SO, from now on I will read the whole text through first without stopping even if I do not understand everything at first. This way I will get an overall picture of the topic and the main ideas.
    • Ah, I never realized that some sentences are more important in a paragraph than others. SO, spotting of the main sentences in a paragraph seems to work for me. I will worry about the details much less this way.
    • Oh, no. All these years I have been trying hard but nothing seems to work. I thought I was just stupid. Now that you told about dyslexia and its symtoms I think I may suffer from it. SO, Thanks. I will contact the special teacher and see if he can help me.

    Having a talent rarely takes anyone to the top. Reaching excellence in anything requires very hard work, 10 000 hours of work, they say. Maybe that is the total number of hours needed to master a foreign language ‘perfectly’. I am still counting ...

    Up to 10 percent of students suffer from some form of dyslexia, reading and writing difficulty. Luckily these days students have the courage to admit they have these problems and special teachers are trained to help them.

    The text in the next article is an example of how a mature 16-year-old might be able to process a reading comprehension text. I believe that if the students are able to apply the strategies and tips given in my previous articles in this ‘test’ they will become better readers. And writers too since good writers will anticipate the reactions of their readers.

    You will find the sample exam in the next article and correct answers with a ‘mature’ reader’s comments in the final article of this Reading Unit.

    Grammar, Writing

    ADVISING THE STUDENTS ON WRITING GOOD-QUALITY TEXTS

    Leave a comment

    What is meant by authentic ring, fluency and coherence? Elaboration and complex ideas and sentences? Fancy words? Impressive grammar and phrases? Serious mistakes and spelling errors? And 9 point mistakes?

    The purpose of this article is to open up the meanings of the ‘unofficial criteria’ presented in the previous article. I think most of the ideas can be applied no matter which writing criteria you are using.

    In other words, what kind of advice do you give to your students when they insist on getting useful advice to improve their writing?

    The advice given must be based on the criteria used. If students get criteria-based feedback on their writing tasks, they will know which areas they are good at and which areas require much more work. But if we want our students to move to the next level this is not enough.

    For instance, if the teacher gives the following points for the essay: overall impression 7,5, content/message 8/10, vocabulary and structures 6/10 and accurary/mistakes 7,5/10, the student will start wondering

    • ‘How could I get 9/10 for content?’
    • ‘What’s wrong with my opinions? I only got 7/10.’
    • ‘What’s wrong with my structures and vocabulary? I think it is better than 6,5’
    • ‘I have plenty of mistakes but you still gave me 8/10. Why?’

    This article hopefully helps you to answer the students’ questions and justify your evaluations of the texts. I am using scale 1- 10 but whatever scale you use it does not affect the principles of evaluation and the advice given.

    In the previous article we studied how to write an argumentative essay, and more precisely applied the ideas in the column ‘Content/Message’ and ‘Logical, convincing structure’. When I started my career I did not have good answers to the questions so don’t worry. Having marked a few hundred essays over the years you will be much wiser.

    Let’s have a look at each column of the criteria and be more specific on what is required from the students. N.B: I would advise you to take a photo of the criteria and expand it on your phone screen or copy the criteria photo and print it to see it better.

    The 1st column – holistic impression on flow of ideas and fluency – ease to read

    • it is vital that a text is easy and pleasant to read
    • the language is fluent and has an authentic ring means the text could have been written by a good native writer
    • the ideas run smoothly and the structures and phrases are the ones a native speaker would use
    • the text should not feel as if it was translated from another language
    • if the text is coherent and logical, the ideas hang well together and follow each other in a way that makes sense
    • a typical feature of a coherent text is the use of connectors like ‘in addition’, ‘as a result’, ‘therefore’, ‘firstly’, ‘in brief’, ‘all in all’, ‘however’, ‘nevertheless’, which indicate how the idea is supposed to be understood
    • there are many ways to built a text logically, the most common ones being ‘problem – solution’, ’cause and effect’ and ‘cronological order of ideas’

    The 2nd column – Message and content

    • first of all, the writer has to understand what he/she is supposed to write about and respond fully to the topic and the task
    • the conventions of the format have to be followed; a review of a film has to resemble a real one, etc.
    • a poor essay (max 6 out of 10 points) has only basic and simple ideas that are known by everybody and do not impress the reader
    • in a text of average quality ( 7 – 8 points out of 10) the ideas are unclear ‘facts’ or opinions that are not justified (proven in any way)
    • in an excellent piece of writing (9-10 points) we can enjoy lively narration or impressive arguments that are expanded/elaborated with convincing proof, reasons or examples ( = complex ideas)

    The 3rd column – Vocabulary and grammatical structures

    • a poor essay (max 6 out of 10 points) consists of main clauses with rather simple grammatical structures and satisfactory everyday vocabulary
    • a text of average quality ( 7-8 points out of 10) consists of both main and subordinate clauses denoting time (‘when’, ‘while’) or causes (‘because’, ‘since’)
    • alternatively the clause may be relative clauses or indirect questions; mostly only the active voice used with some demanding structures or authentic idioms; good vocabulary
    • an excellent piece of writing (9-10 points) has a wide range of demanding structures in the active and passive voice, maybe shortened sentences and authentic phrases and idioms; very impressive vocabulary in placces.

    N.B. In Finland senior high students write essays of 150 – 250 words and I advise them to have at least 10 fancy words and a couple of phrases and idioms plus varied sentence structures included in the essay. These words have to be underlined when they hand the essay in. This way the students learn to pay attention to their vocab and idioms. Of course, the style has to be consistent in the essay.

    Points 3 -6 Vocabulary: to like, good, to get, rich; Grammar: I saw the accident. Did somebody die? I was afraid.

    Points 7 – 8 Vocab: to fancy, excellent/wonderful, to receive, wealthy; Grammar: When I saw the accident, I started wondering if anyone had died in it.

    Points 9 – 10: Vocab: to appeal, superb/exceptional/awesome, to obtain/to gain, affluent/well-to-do; Grammar: Having seen the fatal accident the first thing that crossed my mind were the consequences: were there any alarming casualties? An ambulance had been called …

    I know – sometimes all this may seem artificial but this is the name of the game. The students are supposed to impress the reader with their ideas and language.

    Use elaboration to make the students realize what they are supposed to do: For example: Change / elaborate the sentences below so that your points would be raised. ‘We went to the beach by bus. Dad took our car and went to work early. The weather was fine and many people came to the beach.’

    4th column – The number and type of mistakes – accuracy

    All mistakes are not equally bad – some are more serious than others! In the 1970s the grade could be minus 4 !?

    Which mistakes are considered serious?

    • basically any mistake that confuses the readers and makes them stop reading and wonder is a serious one
    • which mistakes are serious? the basic structures taught in the comprehensive school, the use of basic tenses and the most common prepositions and cases of articles, congruence, there is/are, comparative forms
    • the number of mistakes is not crucial but they way they hinder communication
    • spelling mistakes are serious if they cause misunderstandings or common words are misspelt (foreigners are often better in spelling than native speakers)
    • wrong choice of words, especially if it causes misunderstandings, reduces the points given

    What are 9, 6, 4 and 2 point mistakes?

    When I went to school in the 1970s, we only translated texts and the teacher used coding 9, 6, 4 and 2-point mistakes. The full points were 100 and every time we made a mistake the points were reduced. As a result many of my classmates got results like minus 40 points. Meaning -4 out of 10. They knew quite a lot of English but were sent to the Antarctic with their skill. – Luckily those days are over!

    Still. sometimes I write in the margins of the students’ essays if their mistake is minus 9, 6, 4 and 2 points just to make them pay more attention to the text when they are checking it = reading it silently in their heads. Some mistakes matter more than others!

    I myself have a good idea what 9 and 2 point mistakes are like but 6 and 4 are more a matter of taste. My teacher never revealed the secret to us!

    Reading

    READING

    Leave a comment
    Trial and error -method sometimes works beautifully. But would it not be better and quicker to give these people advice how to learn to swim than let them try it out themselves. The same applies to learning to read at a deep level – the students need to realize what they are doing wrong and which new strategies they need to start applying.

    When applying CLT ideas in helping my students improve their reading skills I made a few startling discoveries.

    • The first one was that I have no way of knowing what goes on in the heads of my students when they are reading a text. The ‘quality’ of reading was hidden from me.
    • Secondly, as a result of this discovery I realized that the reading process is different for every one of us and the difficulties may be caused by many reasons and I as the teacher had no clue of them.
    • Thirdly, I had not helped my students enough to find the causes to these difficulties or to find a remedy for them. It had been like ‘Read more and more and you will become a better reader’ OR even worse ‘Throw the child into the water and let them learn to swim little by little’.
    • Fourthly, I realized I can make a difference in my students’ reading comprehension only indirectly; I had to make changes in what happens in my lessons and what kind of advice and guidence I could offer my students.
    Move the arrow button to see the two options: Is reading a text a relaxing experience or is it filled with fear of not being able to overcome the obstacles on the way?

    I had always insisted on my students studying the new chapter at home in advance. So the foundation for reading comprehension was there. It had actually been laid in the elementary school and with some students in the junior high school. When starting to apply CLT ideas in my ‘teaching’ of reading I first made a few important changes in my lessons.

    • I began to use differentiation in my lessons and replaced me asking questions about the text by giving my students 3 options how to ‘check’ reading comprehension. See Point 4 in Reading strategies below
    • The check was always done orally in pairs or groups, not with the teacher. So I combined reading with speaking. Reading comprehension became part of speaking practice. See more detailed account in ‘Deepening understanding of text, Part 1’
    • I started to teach more and more about various strategies how to improve reading skills and how to cope with exams as well. This idea led directly to improving writing skills as well.

    The most striking example of the importance of education and reading skills that I have come across in my life is what happened in Oman in 1970 when Sultan Qaboos became the ruler and turned the uneducated nation into a modern cililized country merely in 50 years.

    Introduction to receptive skills and reading strategies

    As I have stated earlier on that receptive skills (listening and reading), are much more difficult to teach than productive skills (speaking and writing). Speaking and writing skills can easily be measured against a criteria. In contrast, listening and reading take place in the heads of the students and we have no physical evidence on the quality of understanding.

    Listening comprehension can be verified only indirectly by checking if the listeners responses make sense in the light of what was said by other people. The other way is, of course, by having an exam.

    Reading comprehension is even more challenging because people often read silently on their own and there are seldom immediate situations where understanding is checked in normal life. We rarely challenge the information someone has read about. Besides, interestingly enough research has shown that the process in decoding written messages is different among recipients and may even result in arguments about the content.

    The most important thing for teachers is to make the students aware of their own reading processes, strengths and weaknesses, and also of the ways other readers approach a new text. Pair and group work as well as various reading strategies serve as tools for raising the awareness but they are also keys to the remedies, keys how to improve one’s own reading skills.

    Nevertheless, the situation is far from being hopeless since we can teach about reading indirectly and most of my other articles on reading deal with strategies that serve as tools to enhance reading skills of ordinary and examination texts.

    The other articles related to READING COMPREHENSION are

    ReadingReading comprehension strategies in class
    Solving reading difficulties
    Reading strategies, an example how to teach them
    Reading strategies, spotting main ideas
    Strategies to be used in exams and a model lesson how to introduce them
    Sample exam for reading comprehension
    Deep level reading, returning the markes sample exam

    These other articles under heading READING demonstrate …

    • how important it is that the students themselves become aware of the reasons why they do not always understand a text or succeed in the exams and what they need to do to overcome the difficulties
    • how complex the process of reading actually is and how differently readers may approach an ordinary or an exam text and how versatile the difficulties they encounter may be
    • how the students can make use of various strategies during the exam to get better results
    • how to organize the lessons after the exam has been taken and the exams are returned to the students
    Class management

    GORDON’S PRINCIPLES: A wise teacher

    1 Comment

    Gordon is still my hero. Even after 40 years of application of his principles: ‘active listening’, ‘I-messages’ and ‘win-win solutions’

    Thomas Gordon’s principles on human behaviour and communication have affected me more than anyone else in my 42 years of teaching. The ideas in this article are modified and adapted from Thomas Gordon’s book ‘Teacher Effectiveness Training’ published in 1971.

    ‘But that was 50 years ago’, I hear you saying. Yes, but in spite of the great development in the theories and practices of pedagogy and educational studies, Gordon’s ideas are still the corner stones of how I deal with people and problems with them. I have touched upon some of the ideas already in the previous articles dealing with ‘Class management and control’.

    I will deal with the following topics in the this and the next articles.

    1. What is an ideal teacher-student relationship like?
    2. The importance of sending ‘I-messages‘ instead of ‘You-messages’ 
    3. The technique of ‘active listening’, ‘sending I-messages’ and ‘aiming at a win-win solution’ + sample dialogues

    A WISE TEACHER, introduction

    Some teachers consider teaching content matter to the students and developing their thinking skills as their only tasks. However, as CLT teachers we see the work of a teacher consisting of many other aspects, too. One of them is to take care of the overall development of the students and I believe most of these skills will be learnt as a by-product of student-centred methods in class.

    Nevertheless, problems will always emerge in class and if the teacher does not have some profound principles and techniques how to solve them, they will disturb the learning process and affect the students’ and teacher’s motivation at work.

    It took me many months to internalize and try out Gordon’s principles but once I mastered them I have never given them up.

    The key to a successful teacher-student relationship

    The relationship between the teacher and the students is one of the most important factors in learning. And the success of teacher-student relationship boils down to mutual respect!

    Students are willing to voluntarily change their behavior if they get the impression that the teacher genuinely accepts them just the way they are and wants to help them. No matter how good or weak students they are.

    We do not always approve of what our students do and we tell it to them but it does not mean we give up the hope of them becoming responsible citizens and parents.

    Sometimes the teacher is the ONLY adult in the student’s life who really cares what happens to them. The best reward for a teacher is to meet an ex-student who wishes to thank us for encouraging and getting them through rough times by just being so supportive.     

    In his book Gordon identifies 4 essential factors in successful student-teacher relationships.

    1  Openness and integrity/honesty – so that both parties can speak directly to each other without fear. If both parties observe and think about the feelings of  each other, we are on the right track.  

    My view: This is also a question of our ability to use our ’emotional intelligence’ and feelings of empathy. The success in giving feedback to others is closely linked to our ability in knowing what kind of feelings our feedback arouses in the listeners.

    2  Taking others into account – so that both parties have a feeling of acceptance and being respected. The feeling of being accepted, liked and respected is vital and is something we all yearn for.      

    My view: The best kind of teacher-student ralationship is based on mutual respect and it cannot be based on how good the students are in our subject but what they are like as persons, how they treat others and how hard they are doing their best.  Respect is not given, it has to be earned. And it is deeds that reveal more than words.      

    3  Independence and freedom – so that everyone can be who they are without pretending. Most of us can sense if someone is pretending to be something else than they really are. And most of us want to have a say in our lives on what we should do – still, becoming independent and becoming a responsible citizen takes a lot of time.    

    My view: The present-day life, magazines and TV reality shows are full of ‘false idols’ whose glamorous looks disappears in shower and whose ideas on human lives are as hollow as a woodpecker’s home. That is why we teachers  have to enforce the feeling in our students that they can and should think independently and not flow with the main stream and end up in a water fall or rocky rapids.                                         

    4  Problem solving – so that both leave the scene as winners. No-one wants to lose a game or leave others with a feeling that your opinion was not taken into account or if you are forced to do something against your will.

    My view: This is also an important point for the teacher since they should point out to the students that being too dominant in class prevents the shy ones from having the guts to participate in activities full-heartedly.

    On the other hand, the shy ones must be encouraged to fight back for their rights and they should not be afraid of being judged and disrespected by others due to to things they say or do. For these reasons, pair and group work in randomized compositions are ideal in helping students to become constructively independent critical thinkers who are free of all fears.

    Care and be fair!   Be reliable and consistent! And you will be respected.

    IF THERE IS A PROBLEM IN CLASS … Gordon’s model is unbeatable

    Gordon’s model, that will be presented in more detail in the following articles, has its place even in one-to-one situations between the teacher and a student even if things are running smoothly. You might try it out with your soul mate or kids and you can apply the principles with them as well.

    So what is the teacher supposed to do and say when a problem emerges?

    Gordon’s model to solve conflicts or problematic situations is accepted all over the world and even if it is rather simple in theory it requires a lot of practice since we are slaves of our own bad habits. You are bound to fall in the traps many times.

    The approach is slightly different depending who has the problem but the actual procedure is basically very much the same. Most of these ideas are over 40 years old but they are still valid and can be applied with great success.                          

    The Gordon method has only three stages:

    1. Active listening: The teacher just listens to the students’ comments but takes no stand on the matter but interprets the student’s thoughts and feelings in his/her mind and later helps the student to find the solution by him/herself. The teacher merely listens and says “Hm. /Really /Oh /Interesting”
    2. I-messages: To avoid giving any judgements the teacher just states the situation at hand and expresses the feeling(s) he/she has due to the situation/incident. We tend to use YOU-messages that often block the discussion. N.B. See what a difference in saying: “Bill, shut up, you drive me crazy!” or “Bill, I get annoyed when I have to stop teaching and everybody’s time is wasted.”
    3. Win-win solution: This is the discussion process that leads the problem-owners themselves to find a solution that satisfies everybody’s needs and benefits. The teachers key question is: “So, what do you think you should do?”
    4. Let’s take an example which we will deal with under title ‘I- and YOU-messages’. The situation: Malcolm has difficulties in getting started with his essay writing. He cannot get started and it clearly annoys him and he also shows it clearly. Can you imagine yourself saying the following things to him? Task 1   Mark Yes / No / Depends  
    1. Stop complaining and start working!  
    2. You had better get started if you wish to get a good grade for this course.
    3. Solve you own problems at home. When you are at school you have to study and not daydream.                                          
    4. You have to stop wasting your time and then you will be able to finish the work.                                     
    5. We only have one more week of school and this essay has to be ready by Tuesday morning.                                             
    6. You are a real pighead.    
    7. Grow up. You behave like this was a daycare centre.
    8. It’s hard to believe you have planned to start senior high next year.
    9. You are just finding excuses not to finish the assignment on time.  
    10. This task is a piece of cake for you. It has never caused you any difficulties.
    11. Listen, essay writing use to be a challenge for me too. You are not the only one who thinks so.  
    12. Was this assignment too difficult for you?  
    13. Why did you not tell me earlier you did not understand the theory?
    14. Come on, stop talking about the bad grade and let’s finish this crossword.
    15. You are feeling guilty about not being able to return the essay today. I can see it in your face.
    16. Check how many YES- ,NO-, Depends- answers you had.

    We will discuss the use and effectiveness of these utterances in the article ‘I- and YOU-messages.’