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.
Class management

Four types of learners, implications

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Are you a green, blue, grey or a red learner? What about your students? Are you able to take learner profiles into account in your lessons?

Source: many ideas modified from a http://www.pedanet.com/rauma article in Finnish on differentiation ‘Eriyttäminen’

I have already dealt with the first two items below so in this article the focus is on learner profiles and the ways we can take them into account in our lessons.

  • Learning styles: auditive, visual and kinesthetic or a combination of them. THIS ARTICLE is an expanded view to learner styles!
  • Learning strategies: each of us finding the best ways we can improve our language skills; i.e. what techniques to use to learn new words or how to become a better speaker, etc.
  • Learning profiles: due to our personalities and personal characteristics we respond to situations in different ways – something that both we and our teachers should recognize

All students are different and they also learn in different ways. Consequently, one starts to wonder how on earth we can teach them in the same class if they all have their own style of learning.

In CLT methology we believe that the answer lies in

  • student-oriented methods and practices in class
  • well-planned lessons even if the teacher remains in the role of organizer
  • and above all the students being taught and becoming aware of what kind of learning styles, strategies and profiles there are
  • then it is up to the students to choose the best ways for them to learn the language better

In other words, we first teach our students these things and then the students will try out any methods, styles or strategies that appeal to them and seem to work for them.

After all, the students themselves are the best judges in how they learn best but they need to know what options/choice they have.

The means how we learn a language does not matter that much but the final practical outcome does. In my school years I learnt more English from songs than ever at school. Everybody’s route is a bit different.

Still, it is very interesting to consider for a moment what the four learner categories below have to offer and how we could take them into account in class.

Read through the learner profiles and think if you have students like it and if you have been able to take them into account in your everyday teaching. Maybe you find yourself in one of the profiles. I found myself to be mostly a red learner with some blue characteristics. In reality we may all be a different combination of these features.

My own conclusions on how to apply this information are at the end of this article.

Green learners …

learn by doing and experimenting
lose interest if the content is too theoretical
get irritated if there is too much pondering
like to move about in class, holistic learners
learn well from models and practical applications
need an adult to guide them
like action as well as pair and group work
can organize practical things
need very clear instructions
like to work with their hands

Blue learners ...

like to discuss and argue
demand to have reasons and justifications for everything
can learn new things even if they talk at the same time
noise does not bother them
are active and quick in actions, like pair and group work
like to move about in class but do not disturb
learn if they are allowed to talk a lot
like to work and sit on a sofa, on the floor but not at a desk
are verbally skillful and alert all the time
are critical about the tasks given

Grey learners ...

observe others and stick in the background
ponder upon issues from many angles
are visual and learn from pictures and drawings
do not like to be in the centre of attention or in a hurry
do not like noise, need peace and quiet around them
are conscientious and careful with their work, good imagination
need a lot of time, lack of time makes them anxious
get nervous in exams and are under-achievers in exams
are slow in raising their hands due to pondering on various views
like learning in small groups with students who are like them

Red learners …

are theoretical, analytical, systematic and logical
want to know exact details, ask; why? what if?
question, ponder on and analyze information
find it difficult to describe feelings
are perfectionists who like to work alone, self-directed
learn best when solving problems or in doing projects
thinkers who are often deep in their own thoughts
demand very clear and logical instructions
appreciate discussions and clearing up background information
like to have order and safety around them

Practical implications of applying learner profiles

The principles below are derived from the CLT methology and from the learner profiles. See if they make sense to you as well.

  1. I always have my instructions on the screen in addition to saying them aloud.
  2. I use a lot of pair and group work because of effective learning and to allow discussions and to encourage the shy ones to interact socially with the others to boost their self-esteem. Laughter and humorous comments in class are music to my ears.
  3. I constantly justify and give reasons why we are going certain things in class. At the same time I reveal my beliefs and the students can challenge them.
  4. I randomly vary the composition of the groups to make it possible for the students to get t know each other and to allow them to move about to another table and hope they will express their feelings a lot.
  5. I go to help the students who seem to need my guidance even if they are in a group. I follow eagerly even heated discussions in groups and say my own opinion or point out a new thing to them or acknowledge not being an expert in the matter.
  6. I control the volume level in the classroom and sometimes allow the students to go and work in the corridor or school library. I let my students listen to music using their headset while working individually.
  7. I explain grammatical terms and theoretical terms in layman’s style and I am pleased with low-achievers if they can express themselves in speech or writing using a model which they more or less simply copy.
  8. I use visual stimuli (photos, videos and youtube), recorded textbook or internet materials to serve auditive learners and try to keep the kinesthetic learners busy by giving them minor chores and allowing them to move about in the room every now and then.
  9. I insist little by little that every student comes in front of the class with his/her group and says something during the presentation: one sentence leading to a five-minute talks on their own.
  10. I always tell the students how much time they have for a task, warn them when the time is running out and tell them not to worry if they did not finish the task. As long as they work hard I am pleased.
  11. We practise for all exams in a special lesson so the students know what kind of questions will be asked and they have a chance to ask me to clarify things they have not understood. All of this to relieve exam anxiety.
  12. I tell the perfectionists that the grades are not the measure of man and that failing is normal in life, not something to be ashamed of.

Communicative teaching (CLT), Historical perspectives

METHODS, learning styles, strategies and learner profiles

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MOTTO: Learning is directly linked to the amount of brain activities in our own heads.

This article serves as a brief introduction to the history of language teaching and to the most useful ideas in CLT-related constructive approach to teaching and learning: student- and teacher-oriented methods, independent/autonomous learning, learning styles and strategies as well as learner profiles.

  • We do not learn only by listening to the teacher talking about things but we have to be active thinkers (and speakers) ourselves in class.
  • If we do not think about the things that are taught, we will learn very little. Even better, we have to be forced to explain things in our own words and that is a proof of how much we really have learnt.
  • Active thinking will link the new information to the old one.
  • But how do we process the information and turn it to knowledge? No-one knows the answer. But we do know that if we are exposed to many methods, styles, strategies and profiles we will soon find the ones that work for us.

Use it or lose it! This idea works for languages.

METHODS

There is not much point in me analysing all the language teaching methods of the past in my articles since I only want to promote the communicative language teaching approach. CLT is actually not a systematic method but rather a collection of student-centred principles to be followed in order to make the students use the language and learn it that way.

As for learning styles, strategies and student profiles I decided to deal with them under the headings in the menu on the left. It seems to me it is much easier for the readers to get an idea how to make use of learning styles, strategies and profiles if the ideas are linked directly to a specific language skill area.

Nevertheless, I will briefly explain about the methods of the past in case there are any teachers to whom these are new ideas of some interest. I have discussed the changes in teaching methods extensively in my article ‘My history as a language learner and teacher of English’. I have been learning and teaching languages using all of the methods below.

Teacher-oriented methods

The tape recorder on the left looks ancient but it was seldom used in the translation method classes. Audio-lingustic method meant the introduction of tapes, small C-cassettes and VHS-cassettes. CDs and DVDs came in use some 30 years ago. The last photo shows a Dodson way how to teach ‘to be able to’ in a low-achieving class.

  • The translation method, applied up to the early 1970s, translations from the mother tongue into the target language and vice versa, only translation was taught and tested
  • The audio-linguistic method: in the early 1980’s, meant a step forward towards real usage of language and developing reading, listening and writing in particular and elementary speaking skills too, recordings were used but the real benefits of CLT were not recognized yet
  • The Dodson bilingual method, introduced to serve the low-achievers in particular in the 1980s, close to lexical approach where phrases are learnt by heart and learnt via mother tongue stimuli.

Student-oriented methods

  • Suggestopedia, in the 1980s, meant a big leap towards student-centered activities in class, empasis on a relaxed atmosphere in class, learning by doing and working in pairs, games and role plays were introduced, mother tongue was used and relaxing background music too, very demanding for teachers and not very widely used
  • Communicative language teaching, CLT, adopted the best parts of suggestopedia and the classroom practices changed gradually the more student-centered ideas were spread in the 1990s, the scope and goals of language teaching were totally revised the way they are seen today, the role of teacher changed to one of an organizer and learning fasciliator, class activities were run by students: pair or groups work, work station activities, co-operative learning, presentations to other students, hands-on practical experiments, task-based or inquiry-based approach, flipped learning, versatile feedback and assessment, all skill areas taught and tested

Independent / autonomous learning: in the mid-1990s, the aim was a gradual change to make the students completely autonomous learners, still used to some extent in high-ranking classes and the use of computers and the internet promote this type of learning a lot: library study during lessons, finding the information in books or in the internet texts or videos, applying it, checking answers on their own, each student making progress at their own pace with or without others choosing the tasks themselves

Thanks to computer technology, distance learning and ample number of internet podcasts and videos on just about anything, very many students prefer to learn things at the computer instead of attending lessons or lectures. At its best, if these sources are reliable and of good quality, learning can be very effective. Anyway, we are now going through a transition period but it seems to me this kind of learning is very much on the increase.

Now we have a dilemma or do we: Which method above should we choose?

To me the decision is simple: Choose the CLT, ‘student-oriented method‘ and work towards ‘Independent learning’ even if your class might never make it. With beginners take some elements from ‘Teacher-oriented method’ but keep it to the minimum and apply CLT at an early stage.

The reason I am writing these articles is that I think very many teachers have not realized the full potential of CLT or simply do not know what and how to change their class practices.

Visual, auditive and kinestethic learners need stimuli of their own.

LEARNING STYLES

The of the latest developments in language teaching are the introduction of learning styles and strategies. They are also discussed in more detail under each skill area.

However, there are some things to consider in case you have not paid attention to these matters. Each of us is different and has an individual way of learning. Traditionally people are divided into 3 categories as to their learning style. The styles are closely linked to Learner profiles, which I discuss under heading ‘Differentiation’.

  • Visual learners: make use of images and videos, they learn by visualizing things, they need to see the instructions written on the screen or board
  • Auditive learners: make use of speech and video explanations, they learn by listening, they rely on listening to instructions and asking them to be repeated
  • Kinestethic learners: need to work actively, take notes, carry out experiments, work with their hands or body, move about in class

Whose style is the teacher supposed to favour? Once again the answer is in my opinion simple: In fact every one of us uses all of these styles even if we may favour one or two of them. Consequently, when planning the lessons the teacher should make use of photos and videos, recordings and listening tasks and keep the students active in groups. In every lesson.

The main thing is that you take each group into account when planning a lesson. As aresult the students are willing to learn and active during the lesson, working with others at their own level.

LEARNING STRATEGIES

The third idea to consider are effective learning strategies, i.e. the ways we help and guide our students to learn words and grammar more easily, how to become better readers, speakers, writers and listeners.

The use of the word ‘strategy’ implies that there is serious thought and reasons behind the ways and approaches we take in order to enhance learning. The teaching of learning strategies is an essential part of increasing the students’ motivation. Teachers should remember that when we modify our teaching to a more learner-centred direction we have to tell the students why we are doing it and how they can apply different learning strategies and why.

For example, my wife started to memorize English words better when I told her to read them on a tape, in Finnish first and after a second in English. She listened to the recording while cycling to the evening school. So the key for her was to realize she is an auditive learner. After that it was easy for me to find her a way to learn words effectively.

I myself am a very visual and to some extent kinestethic learner. I often saw and memorized the words in pictures with funny associations. I wrote the words on paper, too. I also had to use Finnish-English word lists and cover the other one when memorizing the words.

I will deal with the strategies separately when each skill area is discussed.

LEARNER PROFILES

Are you a green, blue, grey or a red learner? What about your students? Are you able to take learner profiles into account in your lessons?

Since it is obvious to CLT teachers that students utilize different styles and strategies in learning because of their personalities, we teachers should do something about it when we plan lessons. I discuss these principles under heading ‘Differentiation’ in four articles and give a lot of practical and realistic tips on what to do. After all, we cannot escape this issue and have to solve it the best way we can. ‘Learner profiles’.

Yleinen

DIFFERENTIATION, how to apply the ideas

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Differentiation is best utilized in classes where student-centred methods are used. If the teacher is talking and controlling the tasks, individual needs of the students cannot be properly taken into account.

The work of teachers has been becoming more and more challenging in the 21st century. The last thing we want is to increase the workload of teachers. That is why I recommend making differentiation invisible and optional for the students. The way I have done it is simple enough …

What is invisible differention like? Firstly, we do not fuss about differentiation but make it a natural thing in class that the students work in pairs and groups and that they are often doing quite different things. And still everyone is doing their best learning English. We do not praise the quick ones publicly for doing a lot of work, neither do we blame the slow ones not achiving so much. In other words, invisible differentiation is present in classes thanks to the organisation skills of the teacher and no-one needs to be ashamed of their level of learning.

What is optional differentiation? To begin with, if the tasks in a lesson are too easy, the advanced students will get bored. On the other hand, if the tasks are too difficult, the students will be frustrated even if they are motivated. So what is the solution to this dilemma?

The answer is simple: Have options and let the students choose which task they want to do. The students know their own level and are the best judges which option suits them best at that point. When discussing the structure of a textbook-based lesson I recommended that we offer our students three options when possible. Why three? Because we cannot have too many options and the old model of ‘slow’, ‘average’ and ‘advanced’ students works well in practice.

See my next article where I give examples of differentiation in ordinary text-based lessons. But now some background ideas.

Differentiation is not a goal in itself but simply a tool to get every student to study at the right level doing the suitable tasks. There are moments in lessons when we do not need to differentiate at all since the group work automatically takes care of smooth progress with assignments.

The main points in how I apply differentiation in my classes run as follows:

1 Do not feel guilty and hesitant if you think a teacher-oriented moment or two are needed during the lesson. Take control when you think it is necessary. For example, when the student pronounce lists of new words after me or read utterances or sentences after me, when we listen to the recording of a new chapter, when we learn a new grammatical rule using inductive method, when I tell stories about my own life.

2 I love to talk about invisible differentation which means that I do not talk about differentiation at all but make it happen by using pair and group work. I constantly change the composition of the pairs and groups. Sometimes I allow them to choose their pair or group members but mostly they are randomly selected: (Take a count to six or pick up number from the box or those born in January and February etc.)

3 Yes, you are right. This is not ‘proper’ differentiation at all but I still use it because the students learn to know each other, learn from each other and know where they stand compared with others in their language, study and social skills. To me this is more important than traditional ways of realizing differentation, the ones you can find below.

4 Offering the students options and choices of what to do in the lessons increases motivation and shows that the teacher has really taken the trouble of thinking how to make the lesson interesting and challenging enough for each individual. These groupings are by no means permanent but vary according to language skill areas.

5 The old streaming system of having three proficiency levels has remained in the Finnish thinking on differentiation in one way: We teach and test various skills often having deliberately three types of tasks. This is also the approach in CLT:

For example, think about the effect of offering options in teaching vocabulary: Do one, two or all of the tasks below. You can do them in any order.

Passive recognition of words

The easy task is based on recognizing the words by making a link between Finnish and English. Leading to grades 5 – 6 out of 10 in exam situations.

pankki 1car A
auto 2ticket B
lippu 3bank C
The student connects the correponding words with a line OR moves the correct letter next to the number

Active memorization of words

The second one means that the Finnish word is given and the student has to remember the new word in English in a gap sentence or a crossword. I can restrict the options by giving the first letter. Leading to grades 7 – 8 out of 10.

Our summer c______________ (mökki) is by a l____________ (järvi) in Central Finland.

Tasks based on critical thinking or free production

The third and most demanding way of testing would be having the sentence above with no hints at all, as a cloze test. Or the new words are given in Finnish and the student has to write sentences or a story to prove they know how to use the word. Grade level 9 – 10.

pankki, vankila, poliisi, auto, löytää >> make up a story in English

The very same system applies in practising or testing a new grammatical structure.

So: Ideally there is a transition from passive knowledge towards active free production. Nevertheless, we teachers have to remember that some of our students will never be able to become fluent no matter how hard they try. Still, maybe our ways of teaching developed their other skills instead.

5 To sum up, my starting point in planning lessons is how to activate the students and the ideas above and below have become a natural part of my teaching and mostly I am not even aware that I am applying them. As long as my students are learning and enjoying the lessons and all their skills in English are developing I am pleased.

If differentiation is needed, it can take place in many ways:

  1. Differentiation using quantity: First everyone is doing the same tasks and some students simply do much more exercises than the slow ones during the lesson. The students check the correct answers themselves after each task or at the end of the session. Cheating is discussed in advance: Who do you think you are fooling? Who is going to suffer if you cheat without understanding the answers?
  2. Differentiation using choice: Everybody is allowed to choose any tasks given which they want during the lesson. In other words, the students themselves choose tasks that motivate them. In practice most students are doing different tasks all through the practice time.
  3. Differentiation based on learning style: We have already discussed three basic styles of learners who choose task according to their own liking; visual (learn by looking at pictures), auditive (learn best by listening to explanations) and kinesthetic learners (learn best by doing things and by experimenting)
  4. Differentiation based on proficiency level and flexible grouping: This is basically the same as streaming used to be: advanced students, average ones and slow learners in their own groups. Sometimes this line of thinking is ok if it is not a permanent solution and the students can choose which group they want to go to.
  5. Differentiation guided by a special teacher. Sometimes it is best for the student to spend a specified number of lessons with a special teacher who can give individual guidance on language learning or other difficulties. Remedial teaching outside regular lessons is a relevant possibility.

Yleinen

ENGLISH SOUNDS – f, v, w, l, j, h, n, m, ŋ, r

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Let’s aim high with the pronunciation of our consonant sounds. Sky is the limit!

Finally we will practise the rest of the consonant sounds: f, v, w, l, j, h, n, m, ŋ, r. As a teacher you can either use the recording below or make your own desicion how to use the lists. It would be better if the students knew the meanings of the words before pronouncing.

Most of these sounds are relatively widely used in many languages but I have added some comments after some lists to guide the pronunciation. The tongue twister below is pretty useless but still …

Tongue-twister: How high can a horsefly fly, if a horsefly can fly high!

https://raimoenglish.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Horse-fly.mp3

Practice the sounds by repeating the words.

https://raimoenglish.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/english-consonant-sounds-f-v-w-l-j-h-m-n-r.mp3

/f/   four, friend, family, front, fine, fellow, first, fat, before, difficult, office, half, safe, after, afraid, awful, wife, selfie, different Time 0:09-0:57

/v/   voice, van, clever, vast, value, very, five, every, seven, love, save, live, travel, over, visit, river, fever, violent, violin (Place the lower lip against the upper teeth to pronounce /v/) Time 0:58-2:00

/w/   win, want, warm, wet, walk, wait, wish, woman, word, week, well, what, why, when, where, quite, twenty, away, watch, way, twice, we, one       (Start with rounded lips like in ‘one’ ) Time 2:01-3:03

The difference between ‘light’ and ‘dark’ L-sound might need to be explained before you practise pronouncing the words.

/ l /   land, learn, late, lost, like, love, listen, live, lock, low, allow, yellow, eleven, help, early, long Time 3:04-3:44 This is ‘light’ L-sound at the beginning of words. The other version is the ‘dark’ L-sound pronounced deep in your throat mostly at the end of words. all, little, meal, real, tell, sell, shall, school, people, possible, full, fall, feel, – little Time 3:45-4:21 So, there are 2 versions of L-sounds depending on the position of the L-sound in the word but also heavily on the regional accents. Many American accents use only the dark-L.

/ j /   year, yard, yes, young, you, your, yesterday, Europe, amuse, new, suit, music Time 4:25-4:54

/h/  hat, house, how, home, heavy, high, hope, horse, happy, however, hand, head, here, heart, hit, history, hear, husband, hundred, half, anyhow, behind Time 4:55-5:44 (new sound for Spaniards and often left out in Cockney, in reality it is just air coming out of your mouth)

/n/   no, number, name, noisy, never, nice, north, now, notice, nine, nineteen, nose, run, sun, can, green, begin, down, join, learn, know, knee, knock ( ‘know’ is pronounced just like ‘no’ , so in /kn/ /k/ is left out, ) Time 5:45-6:42

/m/   must, money, man, make, more, many, mouth, my, him, home, some, swim, time, woman, remember, summer, farm Time 6:43-7:23

/ŋ /   sing, ring, finger, song, spring, thing, wrong, young, hang, drink, bring, hungry, angry, language, during, long, singer, among Time 7:24-8:04

/ r /   red, rich, rose, ring, rain, radio, room, run, raw, read, rat, river, recommend, religion, repeat, restaurant, road, railway, star, car, far (the trembling element in / r/ is rather weak, except in Scottish English) Time 8:05-8:59

Yleinen

ENGLISH CONSONANT SOUNDS, s-sounds, vowel comment

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Yes, S-sounds (if pronounced well) sound good. Rely on the power of imitation!

BACKGROUND ON SOUNDS

The sounds used in every language and even in dialects vary but the main thing for teachers is to realize that the best way to learn the sounds of any language is to have a good model speaker, listen carefully and then repeat the sounds and words that include these sounds over and over again. The students simply imitate the way the teacher says words.

If you feel it is necessary you can check the meanings of the 150 words in the lists.

There is usually no need to explain the systems of every language in detail. Still, in some cases the sounds may be completely new to the students and if imitating is not the solution, the teacher may have to explain how the sound should be produced.

For example, the English th-sound: place the tip of your tongue under your upper teeth and blow the air out, at the same time place your hand in front of your mouth and feel the air coming out: that is the th-sound. The th-sound can be voiceless or voiced. In words ‘thin’ ‘thick’ ‘through‘ /th/ is voiceless. Now place you hand on your throat and produce the same sound so that there is vibration on your throat. Like in ‘this’ ‘that’ ‘those’.

COMMENT ON VOWELS

So far we have pointed out that we need to work systematically in teaching English pronunciation. The order of doing things was introduced and suggested in the previous article.

You may be wondering why we do not talk about the pronunciation of vowels. The reason is simple: vowels are used in all languages and the differences in pronouncing vowels are easily learnt by imitating a good model.

Besides the following exercises include a great number of vowels that are practised simultaneously. All we need to do is to emphasize the difference between short and long vowels as well as those in diphtongs (combinations of two different vowels) since the difference sometimes changes the meaning of the words. The time for each s-sound is indicated after the list in case you decide to practise the sounds little by little.

Let’s practice the English s-sounds by repeating the words in the audio file below. PRESS the button and ask your students to repeat the words!

https://raimoenglish.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/english-consonant-s-sounds-s-z-etc.mp3
English s-sounds, oral practice

Time: 0:00- 0:36 N.B. Voiceless /s/, meaning no vibration on your throat and voiced /z/, meaning you can feel vibration on your throat. Otherwise the sounds /s, z/ are pronounced exactly the same. And the same goes with the other s-sound pairs below.

/ s /  see, say, sing, song, seem, stay, still, some, same, slow, summer, sin, sleep, small, save, son, side, sentence, Sunday, second, six, Saturday, sad, saddle, less, lost, almost, case, face, perhaps, peace, pass, last, hats, rats  (voiceless, no vibration on throat) Time on the recording 0:37-2:01

/ z / is, zoo, rose, his, hers, zero, has, easy, zebra, lazy, crazy, as, does, dogs, busy, noise, noisy, zoom, zone (voiced, feel the vibration on throat) Time 2:02-2:50

We often use this sound when we ask someone or our kids to be quiet, shh   / ʃ /  ship, she, shop, short, sure, shut, shoe, shore, shoot, shine, should, push, finish, wash, rubbish, station, ocean, fish, punish, wish, mention, machine, condition, relation                  (voiceless, no vibration on throat)  Time 2:51-3:45

/ ʒ /  garage, vision, treasure, explosion, invasion, measure, usual, pleasure, decision, occasion (voiced, feel the vibration on throat) Time 3:36-4:15

/ θ / and / ð / sounds are both always written with  th. Place the TIP of your TONGUE UNDER your UPPER TEETH and produce the sound by blowing air between your tongue and upper teeth. This sound is actually easy: just air coming out of your mouth.                              

 / θ /   thin, thing, think, thought, tooth, three, thirty, thank, earth, both, path, cloth, bath, faith, something, Thursday, thief, health, wealth, death, month (voiceless, no vibration on throat) Time 4:16-5:04

/ ð /   this, that, there, those, they, them, these, than, father, together though, brother, further (voiced, feel the vibration on throat) Time 5:05-5:38

We often use this sound when we make the sound of a noisy steam engine train.      / t ʃ  /    cheap, chair, church, change, chance, rich, picture, future, catch, much, watch, kitchen, chief, each, beach, reach, question, fortune, teach, change, touch, March          (voiceless, no vibration on throat) Time 5:39-6:29

/ dʒ /  jump, page, joke, strange, imagine, danger, journey, soldier, June, July, January, village, language, manage, cage, large,  age, just (voiced, feel the vibration on throat) Time 6:30-7:12

About me and the blog

Summary on my early stages in CLT

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I USED TO HATE MY OWN LESSONS

I was accepted to study English at Oulu University in 1974 thanks to my passive skills in English. I could not speak English at all because we had never practised it at school. Neither could I write English well since in all my years at school I had written only one text which was a joke. The first book I read in English was the entrance exam novel ’Brighton Rock’ by Graham Green. I had to buy a DX radio to learn to understand spoken language in the BBC programmes. In brief, my learning of English at school was a joke in itself.

”I swore to myself that I would not let the same thing happen to my own students.”

I started my teaching career in 1977 but it took many years before I realized how to apply the principles of communicative language teaching in full.

REVELATION ON THE TRAIN

In the autumn of 1986 I was sitting on a train heading for Oulu, my hometown in Finland, after attending an in-service course in Heinola, southern Finland. For the first time in my career as an English teacher I felt puzzled but still hopeful because of a lecture given by Professor Irma Huttunen. She had been studying autonomous learning for years and I was fascinated by the ideas she had put forward.

Luckily we lived in the same city and she happened to be in the same coach on the train as me. Consequently we spent more than four hours talking about student-centered teaching and learning. I had, of course, read a lot about communicative language teaching but now I realized I should be applying the principles much more effectively.

“The results of my students were good but I felt something had to be changed. But what and how? I had a lesson to learn.”

Secondly, I also realized that I had wanted to play safe and I did not fully believe in the CLT ideas presented in books. Thirdly, deep down inside I hated the way I was teaching English but I had known of nothing better. On the surface level it seemed there was no need to make changes in my teaching since my students’ results were very good. Still, I felt I had to make a lot of changes but I just did not know how to get started properly.

”I was afraid of becoming a laughing stock in my school. But I had to take the risk. I could not go on the next 30 years teaching the way I was doing.”

ONLY I HAD THE KEY TO THE CLASSROOM – and TO MAKE THE CHANGE

I spent the following weekend making plans how I could change my way of teaching English. In those days we did not have the Internet or many additional sources so our teaching was mainly based on the textbooks we used. I assume that is still the case in most classes all over the world. The use of internet sources, for example, requires many skills that are actually learnt gradually when we use student-oriented methods.

The next Monday morning I had a double lesson, 90 minutes, with my 16-year-olds and spent all of it telling my senior high students that I really hated the way I had been teaching them English and that I wanted to try something new with them for a month. They were amazed and sat quietly listening to me explaining how the lessons would be changed and why. I tried to argue clearly and told that I was not absolutely sure how everything would work out and was very willing to get feedback from them. In the end we agreed to have a trial period and besides we could always go back to the old system. But we never did.

“The only thing my students would not be able to do in the English lesson was to open the door. Only I had the key.”

So what I did in practice over the weekend was that I went through all the stages in my lessons thinking how the students could be more active at that point. To my horror it dawned on me that just about the only thing the students could not do was to open the classroom door because only I had the key.

OH, THE JOY ON THE STUDENTS’ FACES

Homework was checked in groups or pairs, much more quickly than under my supervision. The new chapter was listened to together and I taught a shy and weak student how to use the CD recorder. Oh, how proud he was when he was in control. After listening differentiation stepped in when understanding of the text was checked. I felt I had no right to hold back those who understood the text perfectly so they made a group of their own and skipped the translation, some students checked a few sentences and I translated nearly the whole chapter with the weakest students.

“Who am I took slow down the learning process of the best ones? No, I had to learn how to use differentiation in my lessons.”

I had anticipated all of this and I had a list of things on a flip board for the students what to do next . In brief, after listening to the chapter every group made progress on their own following my instructions. First I was scared but in the end I was relieved and pleased: the students understood they were working for themselves but still enjoying the lesson and each other’s company.

Next the students read aloud any part of the text they wanted in their group at their own pace instead of me telling them what to read. I took control of the weakest students again and made them read parts of the text aloud. In two weeks time no translations were needed in any lessons and the questions presented to me reflected true understanding and it often turned out that it was the writer’s fault, not the students’, that some part of the text was found hard. Teaching strategies on how the students could learn English more effectively was something I myself learnt to teach little by little.

NO FEAR OF MAKING MISTAKES

The next stage was ’questions on the text’. I felt some students found these questions too easy and even boring so I had to differentiate again and had thought of offering three options: 1) Ask each other and answer the questions on the screen OR 2) Explain in your own words what the text is about and give your opinion about the ideas OR 3) Discuss the text-related topic given in pairs or groups and/or make a mind-map of some key ideas.

“The older generations are still afraid of speaking in English because they were punished for making mistakes. As a result they stopped talking. The CLT message was: Stop worrying about mistakes. We all make them.”

I can still remember the first lessons and the joy on the students’ faces when they were freely talking and doing things at the level they wanted. No fear of making mistakes, finally putting their passive knowledge of English into active use. ’But the preparation takes a lot time’, you say, don’t you? Well, not  really because I had to think about the questions about the text anyway.

I had been in the habit of telling my students what to underline in the text but now I told them to underline anything they  found worth underlining. Why should they underline something with me that they already knew? How did they learn the underlined words and phrases? Well, by using them in their own oral sentences. Who checked the utterances? Their pair or others in the group. I interfered only if I was asked something.

TEACHING WITHOUT TEACHING by making learning possible

First I found my new role akward because I was not actively teaching everyone at the same time but simply observed what was going on and offered help when needed. Was this the new role I had to take having studied at the uni for many years? Yes, definetely it was. Of course, I had to do some planning at home and organize the activities in class but on the whole I had finally assumed the CLT teacher’s role as an organizer and fasciliator of learning.

“First my new role felt strange but then I started to enjoy it and learnt new methods in group work.”

In short, I started my true CLT career by changing the flow of my text-based lessons to a great extent. Later on we had a lot of variations in the lessons doing station work, co-operative learning, task and inquiry-based learning and flipped learning making use of the internet and computer programmes at the same time.

The whole atmosphere in my classes changed drastically and class control was not needed in the traditional sense. I tried to remember to serve visual, auditive and kinesthetic students in every lesson, started to teach learning strategies as well and assessment became a continuous process with much less stress on it. My lessons were completely different from the ones I had attended and the years and excellent learning results proved my decisions correct.

Learning is enjoyable in a relaxing atmosphere. The more the students are active, discuss matters in groups and work at a level that they find challenging enough, the more they learn. It may be challenging for the teacher to talk less and let the learning of English take place in pairs and groups, as a by-product of the process.

Yleinen

The weak forms – how to use them

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One more trick to sound like native speakers: Learn how to use the ‘weak forms’ of some basic words!

There are about 30 weak forms in English. They are very common words that are pronounced differently from what people are usually taught. are > /ə/ must > /məs/ etc. Let’s learn to pronounce them like natives do and you will be much closer to native rhythm and flow of speech.

Why should we bother to teach weak forms to our students?

  • The most important reason is that it will improve the rhythm and flow of our students’ speech. It is one of the keys to native level speaking.
  • Secondly, having done this exercise you will most likely realize that you need this information in listening exercises too.
  • Thirdly, once you are aware of the existence of the weak forms you will understand why you sometimes miss even simple messages.
  • Fouthly, it only takes less than one lesson of your time and then the students can practise the system on their own.
  • N.B. First practise slowly and then after a while like native. You will find the pronunciation weird in the beginning.
  • Once the sounds of English have been learnt and practising breath group reading is on its way, our next aim towards native speaker pronunciation is to use ‘the weak forms’ of some 30 basic words. Most of them are auxiliary verbs, pronouns or prepositions.

The words to be weakened are: am, are, is, was, were, be, do, does, has, have, had, can, will, shall, would, must, and, as, but, he, his, her, us, them, that, than, some, at, for, to, from

The ‘weakening’ process basically takes place by changing the quality of vowels or leaving out sounds. Here we go …

  • The original vowel sound in these words is pronounced as / ə / or / i / : were > wə, are > ə
  • Sometimes the / ə / sound is so short that you can barely hear it: can > k(ə)n, some > s(ə)m
  • The initial /h/ sound is left out altogether; he > / i: /, her > / ə: /
  • One or many sounds are not pronounced at all: would > /d/, and > /n/
  • The weak forms below have little meaning and therefore they can be pronounced ‘carelessly’.

I had personally never noticed the system until it was taught us at the university. For instance, are > /ə/ must > /məs/ he > /i:/ etc.

Learn more about the weak forms in the audio file below. Using the weak forms is the natural way to pronounce these words in most cases.

And now move on to the Oral Practice of the weak forms. Press the button and hit the road.

https://raimoenglish.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2_english-weak-forms-oral-practice.mp3

It is good to be aware of the existence of the weak forms. Having done this exercise you will most likely realize that you need this information in listening exercises as well and you can skip these little words that carry very little meaning and focus on the key word of each sentence.

However, it is important to use to use at least some of these weak forms while speaking in English. It will improve the rhythm and flow of your speech.

Before we start practising we need to point out that any of these words may be in a (stressed) position where they MUST be pronounced in their strong form.

For example:

I saw that boy yesterday. Tom has two sisters and I have one. Are you tired? Yes, I am.

A: You weren’t there in time. B: Yes, I was. Five minutes early, in fact.

Let’s now read the strong form and the weak form and then the examples in bits and finally the complete utterances

Examples
am əm
‘m		When am I to come?  Why am I the first one? Am I the last one? I’m over here. I’m very happy now.
are     ə, ər They’re late.  When are you coming?  Are you quite sure? II  (before a vowel >)   We’re all very tired.  They’re always happy to see you. 
is      s / z / izMy cat’s sleeping. Jim’s very hungry. Jane’s not at home. The bus is coming. The change is bothering me.
was      wəz I was in London. He was ill yesterday. She was angry with the boy.
were    wə(r)We were in the park. They were cheerful. You were in a disco?
be            bi Don’t be so sad!  I’ll be right back.  You might be right.
do           də Why do you often come late? Why do you like her so much?
does      dəzWhy does he write like this?  When does the train leave?
can   k(ə)n I can do that.  She can play golf well.  They can come any time.
will       ‘lI’ll be back soon.  We’ll show you the way.  They’ll be starting the show soon.
shall        ʃəlI shall be there in a minute. We shall overcome the problem. Don’t  worry!
must məs         I must go now. We must phone her at once. We must not forget the date.
and   (ə)nyou and I / the girls and the boys / Go and find the kids at once.
us        əz  
Tell us what happened.  He told us a straight lie.  Show us the way, please!
he      i: Does he play tennis? Did he win the match? I know he’s not at home.
his   iz 
I met his brother yesterday.  Tom and his sister are waiting for you.
her      ə We met Jane and her parents last night. We saw her at a party.
has  s / z / əzShe’s got two cats.  Jim has seen the film.  He has found the key. / (after s-sound> əz )  The place has changed a lot. / The bus has arrived.
have    v əvThey’ve learnt the lesson. We’ve got two minutes more. The kids’ve got to come with me. The boys’ve known it all along.
had   d ədThey had taken the test. We had forgotten it. (after a consonant > əv) The men had eaten at eleven. The kids had  gone swimming..
would   ‘dHe’d like to come with us. We’d like to show it to you
as            əzas good as new / as soon as possible / Do as he says.
but      bətBut I knew it.  He said it but I didn’t believe him.  But why not?
that  ðətHe admits that he did it.  She claimed that we had often been late.
than     ðən    better than anyone / Your car is much faster than mine.
some   səmsome butter /some milk /some of us / I’ll meet her some other day
at    ətat school / at the station / at home / We met her at the railway station.
for fə fər for me / for me and you / Save some of the cake for the children, too          fər  (before a vowel)  for all of us / for everyone / She bought the shirt for Evelyn.
to      təto London / to me / Give it to me.  He’s coming to Leeds soon.
from    frəmfrom London / From me with love to you. He’s coming from Leeds.

TO SUM UP, here are my recommendations to improve your students pronunciation

  • practise the sounds of English little by little
  • make the pupils pronounce textbook words separately in lessons
  • make them read the texts in smaller units / in breath groups
  • practise the use the weak forms to get to the right rhythm in English
  • introduce the concept of ‘intonation’ and encourage the students to imitate the models (See more about intonation in ‘Classroom phrases’)

Historical perspectives

BEHAVIORISTIC APPROACH to learning

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Let’s see if the following features of the behavioristic approach have any place in modern classrooms. I think they do, but in a very limited manner.

I have discussed the differences between behavioristic and communicative approach in my 1st article under CLT heading.

The characteristics of behavioristic classes

1 They are teacher-centered and the focus is on the teacher control all the time. The flow of thoughts strictly controlled by the teacher who makes questions and gets answers from students one at a time.

Old traditions are good but maybe not in modern schools.

My own language classes were like this in the 1960s. We had to raise our hands, get up from our desks with a lot of noise, give the (predicted) answer and then sit down. Everything that was said and done was about the text in our books. Or we translated texts from Finnish into English or vice versa. No free talk, no opinions asked, no pair or group work. Oh, how much time was wasted!

2 In exams students reproduce what was taught to them which leads to rote learning, learning things by heart. In lessons teachers are not interested in what is going on in our minds and how we feel. In technical terms, the students’ cognitions, emotions and internal operations of the mind are ignored. The students are given fragmental lumps of information without any link to previous knowledge.

In lessons like these the teachers do not care if our thinking skills are developed and if we are bored in the lessons or if we have opinions of our own or if we wish to challenge the ideas presented. The teacher is all-knowing and what he/she knows is enough and no other knowledge is needed for the highest grade. The teacher does not realize that most things in learning cannot be observed or even be measured from outside, externally. Learning is so much more than reproducing what the teacher says.

3 In language lessons behaviourists favour mechanical exercises and drills. Stimulus/question and predictable responses are favoured.

There is no point in going backwards. Nevertheless, as you can see I have been rather critical towards this approach but I think there are a few cases where behaviouristic features or exercises are justifiable.

  • First of all, with beginners the teacher is obliged to be in control for a long time until the students have learnt how to study the language, how to check their understanding of the text by translating it into their mother tongue. Still, even beginners can quickly become creative with their limited language if they are given a chance.
  • Secondly, mechanical drills which were typical in language labs in the 1970s are perfectly ok provided they are practised orally in pairs or the teacher gives the prompt and the WHOLE class responds at the same time. In these exercises the (weak) students are requested to make minor changes and the focus is in the new grammatical point.
  • Thirdly, the key to success is to know the true level of the class. Sometimes the students simply are low-achievers and the only things they can do are the mechanical exercises.

Still, most student deserve something much more challenging and enjoyable than this kind of teaching, so do not let them down.

Yleinen

Identify 22 strategies to learn new words

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Many students struggle in learning new words. Let’s give them a hand!

They do not easily come up with the strategies themselves but you have to tell them what the options/strategies are. That opens the ideal road for each student to utilize their own favourite strategies.

We all learn words in a different way. If our students experiment and find their own style / strategy / way of learning words, we have helped them much more than making them do a lot of exercises that actually do not work for them. This is what worries me in ready-made exercises.

The other articles under Vocabulary heading are

3 ways to enhance vocabulary learning

  1. The easy way out in making your students learn new words is to use the ready-made workbook exercises. Unfortunately, they are not always very motivating or do not match with the students learning style.
  2. In the 3rd model lesson article I suggest an oral pre-task in pairs as the solution at the beginning of handling a new chapter. This is my number 1 favourite. A lot of oral practice.
  3. The third option is to reveal the strategies below to the students and let them write exercises of their own, which is the point in this article.
  • Let the students get to know what strategies there are (use my version below or make a list of your own). This is a MUST even if you decide to nothing else about strategies. You can introduce them gradually or have a crash course lesson with all of them.
  • Use my exercise below (or one of your own) and let your students try to recognize which type of strategy it is in question in each case. This way the students will get an idea how to make word exercises.
  • Organize a lesson where your students make exercises to revise recently studied vocabulary. It is up to you if they write one type of tasks or make use of any of the strategy types.

22 strategies to learn new words

Here is the same list of vocabulary learning strategies that I introduced in the previous article. You can study them first but the main idea is to introduce at least some of them to your students. We all have our favourites and that is exactly what we are trying to do with our students, too: The minute they identify what the best ways to learn new words for them are, you have done a great job.

Nevertheless, before you do anything else you might ask your students to discuss in groups the ways they learn and practise words best. You will be surprised with their creativity when they present their own strategies.

I hope to be able to add some videos on these strategies later on.

  1. Link the new word with a picture or photo.
  2. Link the new word to your mother tongue.
  3. Write the unknown words of the chapter on a paper and make up a mindmap or a story.
  4. Associate the new word with another (funny) word, story or setting. Explain to your pair how the association works for you.
  5. Record a word list on your phone ( word in mother tongue – 1 sec pause– English word). Listen to it many times. (The favourite of my wife!)
  6. Make word lists (mother tongue – English), cover up the other side and say the words aloud or write them down before checking. (My favourite + I make orally sentences of my own))
  7. Make or have a look at a word list (mother tongue – English). Then make an exam for yourself or others.
  8. Say or write a sentence where you use the new word.
  9. Tell a story in your group where you use the new words. (Humour is the best medicine!)
  10. Make two-sided word cards and use them in a game.
  11. Learn words in groups (linked with a topic, nouns, adjectives etc.). Write them down in a grid or an excel file.
  12. Use word formation technique. One word leads to a family of words.
  13. Find synonyms or opposites for the word.
  14. Make a gap exercise of the lyrics of a song.
  15. Consult a dictionary (online or hard copy).
  16. By doing various exercises (crossword puzzles, gap filling, hidden grid odd one out, etc.)
  17. Guess the meaning of new words on the basis of the context.
  18. Make use of free computer vocab exercises provided by publishers +
  19. Give a definition of a word and your pair has to guess which it is (e.g. it is an adjective which means the same as ‘adequate’ – well ‘enough’ or ‘sufficient’)
  20. Your say a word and your pair has to give a definition for it or explain it in another way (a vaccination – well, it is a shot given with a needle so that you do not get a disease)
  21. Make use of the free vocab learning computer programmes in the internet.
  22. When reading extra English materials such as magazines or books, take out your notebook and write down new words and phrases that you find interesting and useful.

Look at the examples below and decide which of the 2 2 types it is.

Sample A Work in pairs and point at the following ‘objects’: a bridge, a church, a river, a boat, a river bank, a pedestrian, a tall office block. Make up an oral story where you use these words and any other words. Each students making a short story of his/her own OR each student continuing the story by one sentemce, for example.

PANKKIASPHALT
BANAANISCHOOL
ASFALTTIBANK
KOULUBANANA
Sample B Which of the 18 choices is this one?

Sample C nation, international, nationality, national, native

Sample D weak – strong, interesting – boring, lazy – industrious

Sample E brick, concrete, seam, fireplace, chimney, flame

Sample F duty free, customs, metal detector, security check, passport control, gate

Sample G marvellous, superb, wonderful, terrific, excellent OR terrible >< awsome, terrific ><awful, day >< night, nearby >< remote

Sample H guarantee: I can guarantee you that the toaster is new.

Sample I gloves, extension cord, bulb, broom, hoover: Last Saturday when I began cleaning my garage, I put my gloves on and first used the broom to get rid of the sand. It turned out to be too dusty a job and therefore I fetched my vacuum cleaner. I have no electricity socket in my garage so I had to pick up an extension cord for the hoover. Next the bulb was gone and I had to open the garage door to see something. …

Sample J

DEYSHUTTLE
CMNUISQMBL
ULORTEPOIC
SCETUNNELI
TESPOLVCDH
OAKTARMACE
MLOSKSWXZV
SNZBIENOLK
AIKORVAEYG
PLATFORMTL
Find the 10 words linked with ‘travelling’. The words can be horizontal, vertical, diagonal and even backwards. (N.B. This is a demanding task. If all the words were horizontal or vertical, the task would be easy.)

Sample K: strawberries, blood, cherries, most roses, tomatoes // grass, leaves, moss, cucumber // banana, sun, lemon, butter, cheese OR strawberries, blood, cherries, most roses, snow, tomatoes // grass, leaves, desert, moss, cucumber // banana, sun, lemon, butter, cheese, polar bear

Sample L: Look at the photos below. Which ‘vehicles’ can you find in the photos? Make a(n oral) story using the photos.

Sample M:

Sample M Which strategy is this one? Why is it particularly good for group work?

Sample N below

LAMB
SHAVE
ADRESS
ABOVE
ENTER
DOOR
The hints can be given as pictures, definitions, in mother tongue, in a gap sentence etc.

Teach your students to make this kind of exercises and they will learn the words while doing so.

Sample O O Sole Mio, It’s Now or Never sung by Raimo

“When I first _______ you with your smile so __________ my h_________ was captured my s__________ surrended, I’d s_________ a life time waiting ______ the right time, now that you’re here the _________ is here _____ last …

https://raimoenglish.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/its-now-or-never.mp3

Sample P Hemingway, “Farewell to arms” garrison, casulty, rifle, ward, wounded, ambush, bullet

Did you notice how I made you go up and down the strategy list when you were making up your mind? This way the strategies will stick better in your mind and you have learnt many of them at least on the level of recognition. I did not actually teach you the strategies but made your learning possible, in CLT style.

  • The next article deals with what is meant by knowing a word and some other basic ideas on vocab learning
  • In the following two articles I will demonstrate what you need to take into account when you make you students write vocabulary tasks themselves. Practical tips!
  • Knowing a word, What does it really mean? Passive and active vocabulary.
  • Getting students to design vocab tasks, Points 1-10, more detailed advice how to do it in practice
  • Getting students to design vocab tasks, Points 11-22, practical advice

The point in this article is to identify and memorize as many of the 22 strategies of learning vocabulary as possible.

Communicative teaching (CLT), Yleinen

USING MOTHER TONGUE in teaching English

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In some countries U-turn is sometimes allowed and may be the only means to get to your destination on time. The same applies to the use of the mother tongue tongue: sometimes it is a must and the best choice. But …

The only time I have seen this traffic light was in Muscat, Oman.

Since the introduction of CLT ideas the use of the mother tongue of the student has been a matter of some controversy. As a result many teachers are shy to admit they simply have to use the mother tongue in some situations. They do it but keep quiet about it … and feel guilty about it … without any reason.

In many cases we may have the prompts, hints or explanations in the mother tongue if needed but still explain the matters in English.

I have always taken a practical view to this problem:

Use the mother tongue as little as possible but whenever it is necessary and useful. Both the teacher and the students should, however, maximize the use of English in lessons.

The problem remains: When is the use of mother tongue necessay and useful?

USE THE MOTHER TONGUE …

  1. with pupils who are complete beginners and you try to establish the basic repeated instructions quickly in English. Have them in writing on the screen, read them aloud and have the translation visible as well. If you are using the ‘Dodson method’, the mother tongue is used a lot by the teacher in a specific way.
  2. if the instruction is a very long one and you know too many students will not undestand it unless it is explained in the mother tongue. First read the instruction on the screen in English and then explain in the mother tongue (or have it on the screen at the same time as well.) Sometimes we only need to explain the idea to some students or one group using the mother tongue.
  3. in any other situation where a lot of time is saved and frustration among many students can be avoided. For example, in ordinary classes at the end of an inductive session where we formulate a new grammatical rule. It is vital the students understand the new rule in full, rather than pretend they got it.
  4. in some vocabulary, phrase and translation exercises . In these cases the stimulus is in the mother tongue and the student tries to say or write it in English. This technique is particularly good with weak or average classes and most productively appied in A/B handouts which are to be done in pairs. See below
A words B words
park puisto
oranssi orange
car auto
juna train
bank pankki
The handout is folded and cut in the middle and the students take turns in saying the mother tongue words in English. Here no Finnsih is used but it is only written on the paper. The list may be a full page and at the end the students switch from A to B and B to A. And the handout is gone through again. It takes only a few minutes. You can also ask some students to write similar handouts for you to be copied.

A Phrases B Phrases
typical of tyypillinen jollekin, (line 7)
Älä höpötä! (line 12) Give me a break!
The sky is the limit. Vain taivas on rajana! (20)
Näin ollen … (27) As a result …
the general public suuri yleisö (35)
… …
This A / B Handout works in the same way as the one above. The handout may be used in the lesson or at the beginning of the next lesson as a revision. The lines refer to the original text and the student can find the phrases there if they do not remember them otherwise.

I myself love to translate from Finnish into English but it is a very demanding task for students unless … unless you have translated some sentences from the text for them or the whole text AND your students use your mother tongue sentences and check the oral translations in the textbook. It can be done as an A / B Handout style too as can be seen above.

The problem with translations is how to check the answers because there are so many possible translations that the situation is hard to handle.

For example: ‘Minulla ei ole autoa.’ I have no car. / I do not have a car./ I don’t have any car./ I haven’t got any car./ I do not own a car. etc. I ended up having more than 60 translations for this short sentence.

Still, in good classes translation from mother tongue into English gives some good change for the routine a couple of times a year.

5. In projects to find information. If you are, for example, having a cultural project on the sights of London, you need to decide if the students will gather information from English or mother tongue sources. The problem with English sources is that the students simply copy the sentences from the source which is not the goal. English sources are ok, if you can rely on your students’ skill to produce sentences of their own on London sights.

Nevertheless, weaker students may benefit from mother tongue sources and what they need to do is to simplify the ideas to the level of the English they master. They may need a lot of teacher’s help but the ‘translation’ exercise is very useful and meaningful.

6, The last reason but not the least. Use the mother tongue as a means of differentiation: in mind maps where the students have to explain the content of the chapter using the prompts, which may be in English, mother tongue or both with lines where the idea can be found in the text.

7 If you are using the Dodson bilingual method in teaching you can focus on either grammar, phrases, utterances or vocabulary. In this method the teacher picks up phrases from the text, says them in the mother tongue and the students say the phrase in English.

Then the teacher uses the same phrase and makes a minor change in it and everybody in the class says the idea in English. In brief, only the teacher uses the mother tongue. See the separate article about this method! Dodson method works best with very weak students!