Reflective teaching: Exploring our own classroom practice
Julie Tice, Teacher, Trainer, Writer, British Council Lisbon

Reflective teaching means looking at what you do in the classroom, thinking about why you do it, and thinking about if it works - a process of self-observation and self-evaluation. By collecting information about what goes on in our classroom, and by analysing and evaluating this information, we identify and explore our own practices and underlying beliefs. This may then lead to changes and improvements in our teaching.

Reflective teaching is therefore a means of professional development which begins in our classroom.

• Why it is important
• Beginning the process of reflection
• Teacher diary
• Peer observation
• Recording lessons
• Student feedback
• What to do next
• Think
• Talk
• Read
• Ask
• Conclusion

Why it is important
Many teachers already think about their teaching and talk to colleagues about it too. You might think or tell someone that "My lesson went well" or "My students didn't seem to understand" or "My students were so badly behaved today."

However, without more time spent focussing on or discussing what has happened, we may tend to jump to conclusions about why things are happening. We may only notice reactions of the louder students. Reflective teaching therefore implies a more systematic process of collecting, recording and analysing our thoughts and observations, as well as those of our students, and then going onto making changes.

• If a lesson went well we can describe it and think about why it was successful.
• If the students didn't understand a language point we introduced we need to think about what we did and why it may have been unclear.
• If students are misbehaving - what were they doing, when and why?

Top of page

Beginning the process of reflection
You may begin a process of reflection in response to a particular problem that has arisen with one or your classes, or simply as a way of finding out more about your teaching. You may decide to focus on a particular class of students, or to look at a feature of your teaching - for example how you deal with incidents of misbehaviour or how you can encourage your students to speak more English in class.

The first step is to gather information about what happens in the class. Here are some different ways of doing this.

• Teacher diary
  This is the easiest way to begin a process of reflection since it is purely personal. After each lesson you write in a notebook about what happened. You may also describe your own reactions and feelings and those you observed on the part of the students. You are likely to begin to pose questions about what you have observed. Diary writing does require a certain discipline in taking the time to do it on a regular basis.
  
  Here are some suggestions for areas to focus on to help you start your diary.
  
  Download diary suggestions >> 51k
• Peer observation
  Invite a colleague to come into your class to collect information about your lesson. This may be with a simple observation task or through note taking. This will relate back to the area you have identified to reflect upon. For example, you might ask your colleague to focus on which students contribute most in the lesson, what different patterns of interaction occur or how you deal with errors.
• Recording lessons
  Video or audio recordings of lessons can provide very useful information for reflection. You may do things in class you are not aware of or there may be things happening in the class that as the teacher you do not normally see.
• Audio recordings can be useful for considering aspects of teacher talk.
• How much do you talk?
• What about?
• Are instructions and explanations clear?
• How much time do you allocate to student talk?
• How do you respond to student talk?
• Video recordings can be useful in showing you aspects of your own behaviour.
• Where do you stand?
• Who do you speak to?
• How do you come across to the students?
• Student feedback
  You can also ask your students what they think about what goes on in the classroom. Their opinions and perceptions can add a different and valuable perspective. This can be done with simple questionnaires or learning diaries for example.

Top of page

What to do next
Once you have some information recorded about what goes on in your classroom, what do you do?

• Think
  You may have noticed patterns occurring in your teaching through your observation. You may also have noticed things that you were previously unaware of. You may have been surprised by some of your students' feedback. You may already have ideas for changes to implement.
• Talk
  Just by talking about what you have discovered - to a supportive colleague or even a friend - you may be able to come up with some ideas for how to do things differently.
• If you have colleagues who also wish to develop their teaching using reflection as a tool, you can meet to discuss issues. Discussion can be based around scenarios from your own classes.
• Using a list of statements about teaching beliefs (for example, pairwork is a valuable activity in the language class or lexis is more important than grammar) you can discuss which ones you agree or disagree with, and which ones are reflected in your own teaching giving evidence from your self-observation.
• Read
  You may decide that you need to find out more about a certain area. There are plenty of websites for teachers of English now where you can find useful teaching ideas, or more academic articles. There are also magazines for teachers where you can find articles on a wide range of topics. Or if you have access to a library or bookshop, there are plenty of books for English language teachers.
• Ask
  Pose questions to websites or magazines to get ideas from other teachers. Or if you have a local teachers' association or other opportunities for in-service training, ask for a session on an area that interests you.

Top of page

Conclusion
Reflective teaching is a cyclical process, because once you start to implement changes, then the reflective and evaluative cycle begins again.

• What are you doing?
• Why are you doing it?
• How effective is it?
• How are the students responding?
• How can you do it better?

As a result of your reflection you may decide to do something in a different way, or you may just decide that what are you are doing is the best way. And that is what professional development is all about.

Related

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/methodology/reflection.shtml

How can I introduce reflective practice into my teaching?

This section offers an overview and discussion of three approaches that support the facilitation of reflective practice; self and peer assessment, problem-based learning and personal development planning. It is designed to help you decide which approach will best meet your needs given your course objectives and context.

Self and peer assessment

Despite common belief there has been considerable work conducted on the use of self and peer assessment in law (Boud and Tyree 1980, Tribe and Tribe 1986, Hinett and Thomas 1999, Hinett et al 1999). Both self and peer assessment can be used to support reflective practice, since they involve students thinking about their own learning.

Boud, responsible for much of the pioneering work on self and peer assessment, defines it as the "involvement of students in identifying standards and/or criteria to apply to their work and making judgements about the extent to which they have met these criteria and standards" (1995: 12). For Boud, self assessment involves two clear stages: a) the identification (and learner understanding) of standards and criteria, and b) the making of one's own judgements against those criteria. This two part process necessarily involves students reflecting on their own learning.

Self assessment can be used to facilitate both a process of learning and an assessment product. Self assessment can be used in an informal way to encourage students to think about their work and what they know in a given subject. As earlier examples have shown, reflection and self assessment can be expressed in various forms and used as evidence of development. Qualitative observations might be written in a learning diary or portfolio (see example 3 and example 4).

As the name suggests, peer assessment involves students making judgements about the quality of each other's work in relation to agreed criteria. Peer assessment is a particularly useful device for supporting reflective practice, because of its focus on dialogue and shared interpretations of teaching and learning between staff and students (Stefani, 1998). Students learn from each other and use the feedback provided by peers to inform their own learning. Using the peer assessment approach students are encouraged to make qualitative comments about the work of their peers. They may also be asked to attribute a grade to the work.

There is no right or wrong way to introduce peer assessment, but experience suggests that students prefer and enjoy giving a grade to work as well as providing comments. This may have something to do with promoting a sense of ownership over the process and wanting to complete the task of evaluation. Peer assessment enables students to understand and communicate ideas that they consider important with the lecturer and their peers about what should be assessed and what weighting should be given to each specific criterion (Tribe and Tribe, 1986). Where students do attribute a grade it is helpful to involve them in the negotiation of criteria. Research findings suggest that in cases where they are involved there is often more congruence between the student and tutor mark (Stefani 1994, Boud and Falchikov, 1989).

A three year project conducted at the law departments of the University of Bristol, University of the West of England and Southampton Institute revealed that students did reap benefit from the process of self and peer assessment. The project focused mainly on using self and peer assessment as tools for improving the understanding of criteria and the ability to evaluate progress. An encouraging 84% of students involved in the project at the University of Bristol claimed it had been helpful to them in respect of these objectives. (Hinett et al, 1999).

As with all techniques, self and peer assessment can take many forms. One example is a written reflective diary, where students identify their strengths and weaknesses and put in place action plans to improve practice (see example 3). Another way of introducing self and peer assessment is to ask students to give an oral presentation about an element of law, which includes a reflective element (see example 1 and example 2). Different approaches can be adapted, and will almost certainly be modified as law teachers and students gain experience in reflecting and providing feedback to others.

The key to using self and peer assessment is to ensure that each new group of students is given the same opportunities to discover how they learn. There is a temptation for teachers to try to streamline the process and offer students feedback, but students need to discover for themselves what they know and don't know and to make their own connections if these processes are to support reflection.

Problem-based learning

Problem-based learning (PBL) is used in a number of disciplines as a way of engaging students in 'real' problems. Unlike conventional teaching, PBL starts with a problem and requires the student to research, select, analyse and apply information and theories to solve it. Students work in groups or teams to solve or manage these situations, but they are not expected to acquire a predetermined series of 'right answers'. Instead they are expected to engage with the complex situation presented to them and decide what information they need to learn and what skills they need to gain in order to manage the situation effectively (Savin-Baden, 2000).

Characteristics of problem-based learning:

• using stimulus material to help students discuss an important problem, question or issue
• presenting the problem as a simulation of professional practice or 'real life' situation
• encouraging critical thinking and providing limited resources to help students learn from defining and attempting to resolve the given problem
• students working co-operatively as a group, exploring information in and out of class, with access to a tutor (not necessarily a subject specialist) who knows the problem well and can facilitate the group's learning process
• students identifying their own learning needs and the appropriate use of available resources
• reapplying this new knowledge to the original problem and evaluating their processes (Boud and Feletti, 1997: 4)

The advantage of students working upon real or simulated situations is that real problems do not have simple solutions, but require comparison and analysis of resources, strategies and costs. As such the learner has to develop skills of retrieval, selection and discrimination in order to solve the problem. Students also develop group working skills as they work together to solve a common problem.

One way in which the PBL approach has been used in law is through the use of virtual learning environments (VLEs). An excellent example of this comes from Paul Maharg at the Glasgow Graduate School of Law (GGSL). As part of the Diploma in Legal Practice students are placed in 'law firms' and go through the whole process of responding to a client and preparing a case with the support of a set of electronic resources. Students set about solving the problem by asking questions of a number of key characters (teaching assistants and tutors on the course) who inhabit the virtual world of 'Ardcalloch'. Responses are sent back from the teaching assistant asynchronously in e-mail form, mimicking the elapse of real time spent in collecting information. This communication continues with the exchange of drafts, offers and contracts until a solution or satisfactory result is reached. Students have to think about what information they need and apply it appropriately to solve the problem. (Maharg and Paliwala, 2002).

What the PBL approach does is facilitate a dialogue between the student, tutor, and peers (and in some cases external parties), which helps the individual make sense of his or her learning. Laurillard, who has written extensively on the value of dialogue in learning, outlines what she calls a 'conversational framework' for learning. She points out that dialogue has three important functions for learning; firstly it reveals the students' and lecturers' conceptions to each other, secondly it provides space for negotiation and adaptation of topic and task goals and thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, it provides opportunity for feedback, reflection and action upon feedback (Laurillard, 1993). With increasing student numbers the level of conversation that can take place in learning is diminishing, which is where ICT can be used to support a new form of discourse. Example 5 gives an example of relection using a virtual chat room.

PBL offers a genuine experience or context in which reflection can take place. Unlike traditional problem solving where the student is directed towards appropriate resources PBL forces students to think on their feet and draw on previous experience to transfer to new settings. This reflection and process of learning can be articulated in the final report or presentation and, if required, assessed. One of the advantages of using peer assessment or PBL is that they enable law students to work together on a problem. Macfarlane suggests:

“ The notion of capability in a reflective practice model requires students to learn to work effectively with others as well as on their own. Teamwork also tends to enhance self-reflection and awareness of learning process, as individuals are accountable to the group and especially if the group is encouraged to analyse its own successes and weaknesses in accomplishing the set task. ”

(1998: 12)

Problem-based learning offers a scenario in which students can develop reflective capacities. Drawing on students who took a work placement in New York, Kibble maintains that placement programmes provide multiple experiences within which learning is possible: "they provide opportunities for reflection-in and reflection-on experience, an opportunity to engage in critical reflective practice, both within authentic work settings and in the academic setting" (1998: 99). Clinical programmes also offer authentic settings (see example 1 and Duncan in Burridge et al, 2002). Providing and producing the resources to support PBL can be time consuming, but the overall approach helps students to become actively engaged in both dialogue and action, essential to reflection.

Personal development planning and portfolios

Personal development planning (PDP) has existed in many guises for over 20 years. The educational aim is to provide students with a structure for thinking about and planning their own development. PDP might be seen as a process of evidencing learning and reflection.

Portfolios and records of achievement are the common forms in which the PDP process is presented. The advantage of PDP is that it provides a rounded picture of the capabilities of an individual. Usually consisting of three parts (a checklist of skills or competences achieved, evidence of achievement and a reflective piece on how the skill has been developed) PDP offers more information than a certificate and engages students in a process of thinking about their learning. Portfolios can be used both for certification purposes and as an additional form of evidence to employers and educational institutions. A typical example of personal development planning is the portfolio of professional development used to assess the competence of a new lecturer in programmes such as a diploma in higher education or certificate in education.

The Quality Assurance Agency has defined personal development planning as:

“ A structured and supported process undertaken by an individual to reflect upon their own learning, performance and/or achievement and to plan for their personal, educational and career development. ”

(Quality Assurance Agency, 2001:1)

It is intended that PDP will help students:

• become more effective, independent and confident self-directed learners
• understand how they are learning and relate their learning to a wider context
• improve their general skills for study and career management
• articulate their personal goals and evaluate progress towards their achievement
• encourage a positive attitude to learning throughout life

The intention is that all students in higher education will have the opportunity to undertake PDP by 2005, although at the time of going to press this has yet to be confirmed. The relevance for law teachers is that PDP offers a framework for reflection. The process of reflecting, planning and evaluating on individual performance mirrors the reflective cycle identified by Kolb. As Sue Prince, who has pioneered work in law in this area, maintains:

“Academic staff are always encouraging students to be independent in relation to their intellectual studies. Much of the work encouraged by PDP has been a traditional aspect of higher education, and consequently forms part of a law degree. Tutors encourage independence in the following ways:

• by encouraging students to be critically aware when they approach all aspects of the law and legal studies
• by providing students with written feedback in relation to formative course work, which encourages students to analyse and reflect upon their own development.”

(Prince, 2001)

PDP is also about improving and encouraging dialogue between learners and teachers. Discussion-based seminars offer a structured and supported PDP process. As Prince explains, "in these seminars tutors act as facilitators, asking questions and requiring students to see aspects of legal problems from a variety of perspectives. Tutors would normally respond to student input with feedback, encouraging them to make new connections and to clarify their ideas and analyses." (Prince, 2001).

PDP can also support development in professional legal education. Where students have a placement option or are engaged in mock advocacy, negotiation or moots, students can be encouraged to reflect on the experience to help them better understand their learning of law and how they wish to develop for the future. At the University of Exeter students are given workshops and a learning portfolio. It is explained that the portfolio will:

“ ...help you to think about what you are doing in a more systematic way so that you can become more confident in knowing what you need to do, more effective in doing it and better able to assess how well you are succeeding. This will help you to be more efficient and successful with your university studies. It will enable you to write more articulate applications for jobs; help you in job interviews by enabling you to discuss your skills and experiences; and allow you to cope more effectively with your first graduate employment. ”

(University of Exeter law school)

Portfolios are a useful way of getting students used to writing reflectively, introducing them to the idea of providing evidence for their reflection. A pilot study at the University of Gloucestershire is currently looking at the use of PDP in a number of disciplines. Example 6 illustrates how PDP is used to encourage management students to reflect on their work. The tutors responsible for the module are also involved in a research project looking at the implications of facilitating PDP for staff development. As such they offer a number of useful observations about the factors that aid the process.

PDP offers another way of encouraging students to think about what they know, what they don't know and how they might develop the skills to fill the gaps in their knowledge such that their appreciation of law improves. It also enables discussion between learners and other parties, and introduces students to the discipline of evidencing and documenting work. Such skills are valuable to the student, the teacher and the practitioner of law.

This section has discussed some of the learning methods that can be used to facilitate the development of reflective practice. The next section considers how these approaches may best be integrated into the curriculum and some of the learning issues that need to be addressed.

examples

In this section:

introduction

what is reflective practice?

what's reflection got to do with it?

reflective practice & teaching

integration into the curriculum

what's in it for you?

support and resources

references

Incidental learning is unintentional or unplanned learning that results from other activities. It occurs often in the workplace. . in the process of completing tasks . . . through observation, repetition, social interaction, and problem solving . . . by watching or talking to colleagues or experts about tasks . . . from mistakes, assumptions, beliefs, and attributions . . . from being forced to accept or adapt to situations. Sandra Kerka, 2000

Consciousness Raising

Process

Early radical feminists argued that women were isolated from each other, and that as a result many problems in women's lives were misunderstood as "personal," or as the results of conflicts between the personalities of individual men and women, rather than systematic forms of oppression. Raising consciousness meant helping oneself and helping others to become politically conscious. Consciousness raising groups aimed to get a better understanding of women's oppression by bringing women together to discuss and analyze their lives, without interference from the presence of men.

While explaining the theory behind consciousness raising in a 1973 talk, Kathie Sarachild remarked that "From the beginning of consciousness-raising ... there has been no one method of raising consciousness. What really counts in consciousness-raising are not methods, but results. The only 'methods' of consciousness raising are essentially principles. They are the basic radical political principles of going to the original sources, both historic and personal, going to people—women themselves, and going to experience for theory and strategy".^[1] However, most c.r. groups did follow a similar pattern for meeting and discussion. Meetings would usually be held about once a week, with a small group of women, often in the living room of one of the members. Meetings were women-only, and usually involved going around the room for each woman to "rap" about a predetermined subject — for example, "When you think about having a child, would you rather have a boy or a girl?" — speaking from her own experience, with no formal leader for the discussion and few rules for directing or limiting discussion. (Some c.r. groups did implement rules designed to give every woman a chance to speak, to prevent interruptions, etc.) Rapping from personal experience was used as a basis for further discussion and analysis based on the first-hand knowledge that was shared.

Radical feminist advocates of c.r. argued that the process allowed women to analyze the conditions of their own lives, and to discover ways in which what had seemed like isolated, individual problems (such as needing an abortion, surviving rape, conflicts between husbands and wives over housework, etc.) actually reflected common conditions faced by all women. As Sarachild wrote in 1969, "We assume that our feelings are telling us something from which we can learn... that our feelings mean something worth analyzing... that our feelings are saying something political, something reflecting fear that something bad will happen to us or hope, desire, knowledge that something good will happen to us. [...] In our groups, let's share our feelings and pool them. Let's let ourselves go and see where our feelings lead us. Our feelings will lead us to ideas and then to actions". ^[2]

Ellen Willis wrote in 1984 that c.r. has often been "misunderstood and disparaged as a form of therapy", but that it was, in fact, in its time and context, "the primary method of understanding women's condition" and constituted "the movement's most successful organizing tool." At the same time, she saw the lack of theory and emphasis on personal experience as concealing "prior political and philosophical assumptions."^[3]

Compare with co-research as used by the Italian Autonomist marxists.

History

"Consciousness raising" groups were pioneered by New York Radical Women, an early Women's Liberation group in New York City, and quickly spread throughout the United States. In November 1967, a group including Shulamith Firestone, Anne Koedt, Kathie Sarachild (originally Kathie Amatniek), and Carol Hanisch began meeting in Koedt's apartment. Meetings often involved "going around the room and rapping" about issues in their own lives. The phrase "consciousness raising" was coined to describe the process when Kathie Sarachild took up the phrase from Anne Forer:

"In the Old Left, they used to say that the workers don't know they're oppressed, so we have to raise their consciousness. One night at a meeting I said, 'Would everybody please give me an example from their own life on how they experienced oppression as a woman? I need to hear it to raise my own consciousness.' Kathie was sitting behind me and the words rang in her mind. From then on she sort of made it an institution and called it consciousness-raising.

– Anne Forer, quoted by Susan Brownmiller in In Our Time: Memoir of a Revolution, p. 21

Theory of multiple intelligences

It has been claimed by some researchers that our intelligence or ability to understand the world around us is complex. Some people are better at understanding some things than others. For some of us it is relatively easy to understand how a flower grows but it is immensely difficult for us to understand and use a musical instrument. For others music might be easy but playing football is difficult. Instead of having one intelligence it is claimed that we have several different intelligences. These are listed below:

Theory of multiple intelligences

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  (Redirected from Multiple intelligence)

Jump to: navigation, search

Multiple intelligences is an educational theory, first developed by psychologist Howard Gardner, that describes an array of different kinds of "intelligences" exhibited by human beings. Gardner suggests that each individual manifests varying levels of these different intelligences, and thus each person has a unique "cognitive profile." The theory was first laid out in Gardner's 1983 book, Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, and has been further refined in subsequent years.

The theory was proposed in the context of debates about the concept of intelligence, and whether methods which claim to measure intelligence (or aspects thereof) are truly scientific. Gardner's theory argues that intelligence, as it is traditionally defined, does not adequately encompass the wide variety of abilities humans display. In his conception, a child who masters the multiplication table easily is not necessarily more intelligent overall than a child who struggles to do so. The second child may be stronger in another kind of intelligence, and therefore may best learn the given material through a different approach, may excel in a field outside of mathematics, or may even be looking through the multiplication learning process at a fundamentally deeper level that hides a potentially higher mathematical intelligence than in the one who memorizes the concept easily. The theory suggests that, rather than relying on a uniform curriculum, schools should offer "individual-centered education", with curricula tailored to the needs of each child.^[1] (This includes working to help students develop the intelligences in which they are weaker.)

Gardner identifies kinds of intelligences based upon eight criteria. His eight criteria for describing something as an independent kind of intelligence (rather than merely one of the skills or abilities included in a kind of intelligence, or a synonym for, or combination of other kinds of intelligence) include:^{[2] [3]}

  case studies of individuals exhibiting unusual talents in a given field (child prodigies, autistic savants);

  neurological evidence for areas of the brain that are specialized for particular capacities (often including studies of people who have suffered brain damage affecting a specific capacity);

  the evolutionary relevance of the various capacities;

  psychometric studies; and

  the existence of a symbolic notation (e.g. written language, musical notation, choreography).

Gardner originally identified seven core intelligences: linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal and intrapersonal. In 1999 he added an eighth, the naturalistic intelligence, and indicated that investigation continues on whether there is an existential intelligence.

The theory has been widely criticized in the psychology and educational theory communities. The most common criticisms argue that Gardner's theory is based on his own intuition rather than empirical data and that the intelligences are just other names for talents or personality types. Despite these criticisms, the theory has enjoyed a great deal of success amongst educators over the past twenty years. There are several schools which espouse MI as a pedagogy, and many individual teachers who incorporate some or all of the theory into their methodology. Many books and educational materials exist which explain the theory and how it may be applied to the classroom.

Using Mnemonic Instruction to Facilitate Access to the General Education Curriculum

Download this document:  Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF

Mnemonic instruction is an instructional strategy commonly used with students who have disabilities as well as with their non-disabled peers. It is designed to improve memory of key information. Mnemonic instruction facilitates access to the general education curriculum by giving students the tools they need to better encode information so that it will be much easier to retrieve it from memory at later points. Mnemonics can be used in language arts (i.e., vocabulary, spelling, and letter recognition), mathematics, science, social studies, foreign language, and other academic subjects. Use of this instructional strategy does not require a wealth of additional materials or extensive planning and preparation time (Mastropieri & Scruggs, 1998).

How Mnemonic Instruction Works

Mnemonics is a memory enhancing instructional strategy that involves teaching students  to link new information that is taught to information they already know. According to Levin (1993), mnemonic instruction is useful for students across a wide age range. Though students in the early elementary grades are usually not expected to learn and recall as many facts as older students, they are involved in a number of activities that involve making associations that employ mnemonic principles.

For example, associations linking the letter “a” to the word “apple” or “f” to “flower” employ mnemonic principles. Teachers instruct students in the use of mnemonic strategies by using both visual and verbal cues.

There are at least three distinct methods for teaching mnemonics: keyword, pegword, and letter strategies. These methods are briefly described below.

Keyword Strategy
The keyword strategy is based on linking new information to keywords that are already encoded to memory. A teacher might teach a new vocabulary word by first identifying a keyword that sounds similar to the word being taught and easily represented by a picture or drawing. Then the teacher generates a picture that connects the word to be learned with its definition. According to Scruggs & Mastropieri (n.d.), the keyword strategy works best when the information to be learned is new to students.

Example

To teach students the definition of the new word, the teacher will ask the students to remember the keyword, envision the picture and how it relates to the definition, and finally recall the definition.   If a teacher is trying to teach her students the definition of the old English word carline, she will first identify a good keyword. In this instance, “car” is appropriate because it is easy to represent visually and it sounds like the first part of the vocabulary word. Carline means “witch” so the teacher shows the students a picture of a car with a witch sitting in it. When asked to recall the definition of carline, students engage in a four-step process:

1. Think back to the keyword (car),
2. Think of the picture (a car),
3. Remember what else was happening in the picture (a witch was in the car), and
4. Produce the definition (witch) ( Scruggs & Mastropieri, n.d., p. 2).

Pegword Strategy
The pegword strategy uses rhyming words to represent numbers or order. The rhyming words or “peg words” provide visual images that can be associated with facts or events and can help students associate the events with the number that rhymes with the pegword. It has proven useful in teaching students to remember ordered or numbered information (Scruggs & Mastropieri, n.d.). For example, “one” is typically represented by the word pegword “bun,” two is represented by the pegword “shoe,” and “three” is represented by the pegword “tree.” Teachers can use these pegwords to help students remember historical facts.

Example

During a study of the American Revolutionary War, a teacher wanted her students to remember the three major Acts that the British Parliament passed that led to the American Revolutionary War: the Sugar Act of 1764, the Stamp Act (1765), and the Townshend Acts (1767). To help them remember the Acts and the order in which they occurred, she created the following mnemonics: for the Sugar Act of 1764, she created a picture of a bowl of sugar reminding students of the Sugar Act of 1764) being poured on a hamburger bun (“bun” is the pegword for “one,” indicating the first Act that Parliament passed). For the Stamp Act, the teacher created a picture of a pair of shoes (“shoe” is the pegword for “two”) with a stamp (to remind students of the Stamp Act) on it. Finally, she created a picture of a teapot with the Union Jack on it (to remind the students of the Boston Tea Party, which resulted from the Townshend Acts) and a tree coming out the top of the teapot (“tree” is the pegword for “three”).

Letter Strategy
Teaching letter strategies involves the use of acronyms and acrostics. Acronyms are words whose individual letters can represent elements in lists of information, such as HOMES to represent the Great Lakes (e.g., Huron, Ontario, Michigan). Acrostics are sentences whose first letters represent to-be-remembered information, such as “My very educated mother just served us nine pizzas,” to remember the nine planets in order (e.g., Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars). (Scruggs & Mastropieri, n.d.).  Teachers can use these letter strategies to help students remember lists of information.

Example A
The mnemonic “IT FITS” (King-Sears, Mercer, & Sindelar, 1992) is an acronym providing the following steps to create mnemonics for vocabulary words:

I     dentify the term (vocabulary word, e.g., “impecunious”).
T    ell the definition of the term (e.g., “having no money”).
Fi   nd a keyword (e.g., “penniless imp”).
T    hink about the definition as it relates to the keyword, and imagine the definition doing something with the keyword. For example, “an imp tried to buy something but  found that his pockets contained no money.”
S   tudy what you imagined until you know the definition (Foil & Alber, 2002).

Example B
Another mnemonic device for creating keywords for new vocabulary is LINCS (Ellis, 1992). During a unit on medieval history, students must learn a new vocabulary word, “catapult.” The teacher gives the following instructions:

L   ist the parts. Write the word on a study card, and list the most important parts of the definition on the back.  On the frontside of the card write the word “catapult” as the term to be defined, and on the backside of the card write “to throw or launch as if by an ancient device for  hurling missiles.”

I   magine the picture. Create a mental picture and describe it. For example, something being launched over or through a barrier.

N   ote a reminding word. Think of a familiar word that sounds like the vocabulary word. For example, a “cat” and a “pole” sounds similar to “pult”—write this on the bottom half of the card).

C   onstruct a LINCing story. Make up a short story about the meaning of the word that includes the word to be remembered, for example, a cat pole-vaulting over a castle wall.

S   elf-Test. Test your memory forward to back; for example, look at the word “catapult” and “cat pole” on the front of the card, and say aloud the definition on the back of the card, as well as the image of a cat  pole-vaulting over a castle wall. Reverse this process by looking at the back of the card to self-test the vocabulary word and  keyword (Foil & Alber, 2002).

How Mnemonics Facilitates Access to the General Education Curriculum
Mnemonic instruction is a strategy that provides a visual or verbal
prompt for students who may have difficulty retaining information. In this way, children whose learning modalities are  primarily visual  or verbal are able to create a picture, word, rhyme, or sentence that is attached to an idea they already have. This strategy enhances access to the general education curriculum by building on what students already know or have experienced.

Mnemonic instruction follows the premise that as children learn, they are building a web of knowledge.  Learning something new is like adding a thread to the web. For students with memory challenges or processing disorders, mnemonic devices become the tools to build threads from new to old ideas.  Because of their ability to create and retain connections made by their typically developing peers, these students are then able to participate in the same curriculum.

Evidence of Effectiveness
Mnemonic instruction “has been well researched and validated for students with high incidence disabilities, particularly students with learning disabilities, as well as for general education students in elementary and middle school” (DLD/DR Current Practice Alerts, p.1).

According to Swanson (1999) and Forness, Kavale, Blum, and Lloyd (1997), the use of mnemonic strategies have helped students with disabilities significantly improve their academic achievement. Mnemonic strategy was first used in a general education setting by college undergraduates learning foreign language vocabulary (Uberti, Scruggs, & Mastropieri, 2003, in Atkinson, 1975). Later research extended the use of such  instruction into classrooms of younger students and among students with learning disabilities. In a recent study, college students used a mnemonic strategy to study and recall painting-to artist matchings. All four experiments of the study repeatedly showed that those students who used mnemonics substantially outperformed those who did not use them on tests that required recall of artists and their paintings (Carney & Levin, 2000). Two recent studies on using mnemonics for social studies instruction showed not only test improvement among all students but also marked improvement among students with disabilities (Mastropieri, Sweda, & Scruggs, 2000; Uberti, Scruggs, & Mastropieri, 2003).

Mnemonics instruction has also been shown to be an effective strategy for increasing student comprehension test scores. On average, students who have been trained in mnemonic instruction outperform students without training on comprehension exams.  It is important to remember that mnemonic instruction is a memory-enhancing strategy and is not designed specifically to enhance comprehension. Researchers suggest that the reason comprehension scores are higher for students using mnemonic strategies is that the strategy increases their ability to recall the factual information needed to answer a topical comprehension question. For example, a student could understand the concept of landforms, yet be unable to remember the names of the oceans and continents. Through the use of mnemonic strategies, it is more likely that the student will be able to remember this factual information, answer the question, and demonstrate comprehension. However, remembering factualinformation requires that a student understands the concept of landforms. Students who need help understanding the concept will benefit from instruction in comprehension strategies (Mastropieri, Scruggs, & Fulk, 1990; & Scruggs, Mastropieri, McLoone, Levin, & Morrison, 1987).

Caution should be used when teaching mnemonic strategies. Students who may benefit from the use of mnemonic instruction may not be able to construct their own mnemonics effectively. For example, in one study mnemonic instruction was used to teach general education middle school students about 18th, 19th, and 20th century inventions and their corresponding dates. This study found that the students had difficulty using mnemonic strategies independently; that is, they were unable to effectively apply them and create mnemonics on their own (Hwang & Levin, 2002). Thus, keyword mnemonics can either be provided by the teacher or created by the student.  However, it may be more effective for the teacher to provide the keyword mnemonics to the students (King-Sears et al., 1992; Scruggs & Mastropieri, 1992).

Learn More about Mnemonic Instruction

The Virginia Council for Learning Disabilities also provides information from Mastropieri and Scruggs at http://www.vcld.org/pages/newsletters/00_01_fall/mnemonic.htm . This reference provides information regarding each of the three methods mentioned in this document, as well as information regarding general techniques, training for independent use, and limitations.

The Center for Research on Learning at the University of Kansas provides a quick one page, on-line reference that demonstrates word-based devices and combined mnemonic devices. Illustrations provide examples for clearer understanding. This page is available at http://itc.gsu.edu/academymodules/a304/support/xpages/a304b0_20600.html .

Members of the Division for Learning Disabilities (DLD) of the Council for Exceptional Children can access a free on-line tutorial on mnemonics. This is available through the DLD Web site at www.teachingld.org .

The National Center on Accessing Curriculum publishes two information briefs, Teaching Sounds, Letters, and Letter-Sound Correspondences and These Methods Suggest A New Pedagogy For Literacy Development, which demonstrate how mnemonics are used in the classroom. They are at http://www.cast.org/ .

Please also refer to the References and Additional Resources section below.

USING THE MOTHER TONGUE IN THE CLASSROOM

Somewhere along the line (probably in the late 1970s or early 1980s) the idea seemed to get around that using the mother tongue in the language teaching classroom was a "bad thing". Everything should be done in the target language, giving the learners maximum exposure to that language (in this case English).

       This is fine in principle but, as ever, the reality turns out to be somewhat different. While it is perfectly possible to use only English in class, this approach fails to take account of a number of factors. First of all, general recommendations of this type tend to originate in the world of the multi-ethnic language class in an English-speaking environment. In this situation it is not only desirable to use English at all times, it is, for the most part, essential, given the mixed linguistic background of the learners.

This situation does not, however, apply to the vast majority of EFL classes around the world, most of which will typically be taught by a non-native teacher of English and will consist in most cases of learners from a single linguistic background and culture. Many teachers in this second teaching situation will endeavour to use English as much as possible in the classroom, giving instructions in English, teaching basic English classroom metalanguage, requiring learners to use English when asking questions, insisting that they use English in group and pair work and so on. This is all extremely positive and probably produces good results. However, where the non-native teacher of English enjoys a particular advantage over his or her native-speaker colleague who is ignorant of the mother tongue of the learners is in the ability to use the mother tongue as and when it is required. The mother tongue can be used to provide a quick and accurate translation of an English word that might take several minutes for the teacher to explain and even then there would be no guarantee that the explanation had been understood correctly. (To avoid over-dependence on translation, some teachers have a policy of not giving a verbal translation of a particular word when asked but of writing the translation on the board when absolutely necessary in order to limit excessive and automatic use of the mother tongue in class).

The mother tongue is also particularly effective with younger learners and adult learners at beginner level to check instructions, to ensure that concepts have been correctly understood and for general classroom management. In the case of concept checking, for example, if the teacher has just been presenting the difference in concept between present perfect and past simple as in "John has gone to Paris" and "John went to Paris", asking the class to give a quick translation into the mother tongue will enable the teacher to be absolutely sure that the concepts have been understood. Using the mother tongue can also be very useful in establishing the general "rules" for the class at the beginning of the course, one of which may of course be "English will be used at all times"! Perhaps the greatest potential advantage of a knowledge of the mother tongue of the learners, however, is that it enables the teacher to contrast the language with English and to know which structures are difficult and, possibly even more importantly, which structures are easy and need very little attention. The teacher with a knowledge of the mother tongue is also in a position to know potential problems with vocabulary items – false friends, words easily confused, words with no equivalents and so on.

       Finally, some learners need the security of the mother tongue. They may be the type of learner that needs to relate concepts in English to equivalents in their L1. This may be their most effective way of learning vocabulary. They may also feel that having a mother tongue equivalent is a far more efficient way of arriving at meaning than a constant process of working things out.

Tim Bowen

WHAT IS "STANDARD" ENGLISH?  Part 1

In British English the notion of RP (Received Pronunciation) still persists. Alternatively described as "the Queen’s English", "BBC English" or "Oxford English", there appears, in some quarters at least, the idea that there is some kind of standard we should aspire to and that variations to that standard are somehow inferior.

On closer examination, however, this standard appears to be notoriously difficult to define. It is to some extent social, with some of its sounds  closely identifiable with the traditional pronunciation of the privately educated aristocracy and upper classes. On the other hand, members of this exclusive group appear to use fewer phonemes than the 44 of standard RP. Their pronunciation of the words "tar", "tyre" and "tower" would probably be identical, namely /ta:/, whereas for most speakers of British English these three words would be pronounced in three clearly different ways.. Similarly, the word "house" is often pronounced as if it rhymes with "mice" rather than "mouse", this one being a particular idiosyncrasy of the above-mentioned group.

So, if "Standard English" is not the English of the numerically insignificant British aristocracy perhaps it is regional? If we take Oxford as an example, there are doubtless numerous people working and studying at the university there whose English approximates very closely either to RP or to the reduced version of RP spoken by the English upper classes, but such people are certainly a minority in the city of Oxford as a whole. The local accent is very different from RP and, as such, the term, "Oxford English" is extremely misleading.

If we can attribute RP to a specific area, then it is probably to the South-East of England, but it is in no way representative of the vast majority of the people who live in this region, most of whom are beginning to speak a reduced form of London English widely known as "Estuary" (from the Thames Estuary, bordered by Essex and Kent, where this accent predominates). The spread of this particular "Standard English" appears to be driven by two factors: migration from the London area into rural areas of the South-East and the widespread popularity of television soap operas set in London. As yet, Estuary has not made any inroads into the traditional dialects of the North of England, the English Midlands and the South-West, let alone Wales and Scotland, but its influence in the South is proving remorseless, with the traditional rural Sussex accent, for example, becoming completely swamped. At this point, it is arguably the most widely used dialect in the country and has, therefore, the greatest claim to be regarded as "Standard English".

There is, however, another important factor in this equation, namely the influence of American English. With far fewer regional accents and dialects than British English, American English can be regarded as being much closer to having its own standard form. There is already a large and growing bank of American vocabulary in British English (witness the increasing use of verbalised nouns), and cultural influences, mainly through television, from the world’s most powerful economy may soon have a noticeable impact on British English pronunciation.

While British accents are traditionally regarded as "quaint" in the United States, the opposite is most certainly not the case and there is already a "mid-Atlantic" accent observable both amongst Britons who have spent periods of time in the USA and amongst certain professions with close links with US culture, notably the music profession. So far, "mid-Atlantic" has only a limited presence, but it may only be a matter of time before the battle lines are drawn between Estuary and mid-Atlantic for the struggle to become the "Standard English" of the United Kingdom.

(to be continued)

Tim Bowen

-ing adjectives are used to describe things: 'The lecture was boring.'
-ed adjectives are used to describe our feelings: 'I felt very bored.'

BBC Learning English

Grammar Challenge

Grammar Challenge © BBC Learning English

Page 1 of 2

http://www.bbclearningenglish.com/

© British Broadcasting Corporation 2007

Catherine's Grammar Explanation: -ed & -ing adjectives

Catherine: Hi Deniz! Mark didn’t like the film. He used the words 'boring' and 'bored'.

We use -ing or 'ing' adjectives to give more information about things. So if we go to

see a really dull film, and nothing much happens, and the film even makes me feel

quite sleepy, I can say that the film was boring. I use an –ing adjective – boring

– to describe the film. Let's listen to Mark:

Mark: I watched that film on television last night. It was really boring. I was

just bored by it.

He uses the –ing adjective to describe the film.

Mark: It was really boring.

But if I want to talk about my feelings about the film – how the film affected me, I

use an –ed or 'ed' adjective – I was bored. Here's Mark again:

Mark: I was just bored by it.

He uses the –ed adjective to describe his feelings about the film.

Mark: I was just bored by it.

So it's –ing adjectives for other things, and –ed adjectives for my feelings. The film

was boring, and I was bored. Now there are only a certain number of adjectives that

work like this. The most common ones are:

Bored / boring

Excited / exciting

BBC Learning English

Grammar Challenge

Grammar Challenge © BBC Learning English

Page 2 of 2

http://www.bbclearningenglish.com/

© British Broadcasting Corporation 2007

Interested / interesting

Embarrassed / embarrassing

Tired / tiring

Shocked / shocking

Annoyed / annoying

Frightened / frightening

And finally, worried / worrying

Ok Deniz, good luck with your grammar challenge!

BBC Learning English

Grammar Challenge

bored boring

confused confusing

depressed depressing

Grammar Challenge © BBC Learning English

ed / ing adjectives Page 1 of 2

www.bbclearningenglish.com

© British Broadcasting Corporation 2007

Grammar Challenge: -ed and –ing adjectives

There are several adjectives in English which have 2 forms: an –ed form and an –ing

form. The –ed form is used to describe things, and the –ing form is used to

describe our feelings.

-ed form -ing form

amazed amazing

amused amusing

annoyed annoying

astonished astonishing

disappointed disappointing

disgusted disgusting

embarrassed embarrassing

excited exciting

exhausted exhausting

frightened frightening

insulted insulting

interested interesting

intrigued intriguing

satisfied satisfying

shocked shocking

surprised surprising

tempted tempting

terrified terrifying

tired tiring

worried worrying

BBC Learning English

Grammar Challenge

Grammar Challenge © BBC Learning English

ed / ing adjectives Page 2 of 2

www.bbclearningenglish.com

© British Broadcasting Corporation 2007

Adjectives are used to give more information about nouns. They are used with the

verb 'to be' or a copula verb like look, seem, feel, sound, appear etc.

-ed adjectives: example sentences

I'm not interested in football.

We were all surprised when they got married.

He was shocked at the news.

The lecture made me feel really bored.

She felt very disappointed with her exam results.

The children looked very tired when they got back from the trip.

-ing adjectives: example sentences

I don't think football is a very interesting game.

Their marriage was very surprising.

They thought the news was shocking.

I'm not going to that lecture: it sounds really boring.

Her exam results seemed disappointing, but the university accepted her anyway.

The trip looks very tiring. We'd better go to be early tonight.

 Lesson 5, 6 & 7

B: Structure

1. She hasn't phoned,        …         she said she would.

a. even though       b. so that               c. while                 d. so as to

2. A: "Why did you go out?"           B: "        …       post a letter."

a. In order that       b. so that               c. Although           d. In order to 

3. She is learning English        …           she can study in Canada.

a. while                  b. although            c. so that               d. so as to

4. I prefer to work for the government,       …        my father wants me to be self-employed.

a. whereas             b. although            c. so that               d. so as to

5. I know they're coming next week,          …           I don't know which day.

a. but                   b. in order to         c. so that               d. so as to

6. A friend of mine phoned          …       invite me to a party.

a. whereas             b. although            c. so that               d. so as to

7. It began to snow        …         I was working in the garden.

a. while                  b. although            c. so that               d. so as to

8. We shouted          …       everybody of the danger.

a. so as to warn     b. by warning        c. so that warn       d. warn

9.            …         he left school at 16, he still managed to become prime minister.

a. Since                 b. While                c. Though             d. So that

10. I gave him my phone number       …         he could contact me.

a. whereas             b. although            c. so that               d. so as to

11. She comes from a rich family,         …       her husband has had a poor life.

a. whereas             b. although            c. so that               d. so as to

12. This wall is          …        keep people out of the garden.

a. whereas             b. although            c. so that               d. in order to

13.    …       some researchers think that the world is getting warmer, many do not think so.

a. While                 b. Although           c. So that              d. So as to

14. I need a bottle opener          …        open this bottle.

a. whereas             b. for                    c. so that               d. to

15.          …        our house is in excellent condition, we're having problems selling it.

a. While                 b. Although           c. So that              d. So as to

16. They gave us some money       …          buy some food.

a. whereas             b. although            c. so that               d. in order to

17.       …        she hasn't really got the time, she still offered to help.

a. While                 b. Although           c. So that              d. So as to

18. Ali prefers Iranian food,        …       his children love pizza.

a. whereas             b. although            c. so that               d. in order to

19. I need a few days         …       I can think about your suggestion.

a. whereas             b. although            c. so that               d. in order to

20. He must be about sixty,             …       his wife looks about thirty.

a. whereas             b. although            c. so that               d. in order to

21. You eat a massive plate of food for lunch,        …         I have just a sandwich.

a. whereas             b. although            c. so that               d. in order to

22. He gets fifty thousand pounds a year         …        I get a meager twenty!

a. whereas             b. although            c. so that               d. in order to

23. Tom is very extrovert and confident         …         Katy's shy and quiet.

a. whereas             b. although            c. so that               d. in order to

24. I do every single bit of housework           …         he just does the dishes now and again.

a. whereas             b. although            c. so that               d. in order to

25.        …      I accept that he's not perfect in many aspects, I do actually quite like the man.

a. While                 b. Although           c. So that              d. So as to

26.         …        I fully understand your point of view, I do also have some sympathy with Michael's.

a. While                 b. Although           c. So that              d. So as to

27. She walked home by herself,            …          she knew that it was dangerous.

a. whereas             b. although            c. so that               d. in order to

28. He decided to go,         …          I begged him not to.

a. whereas             b. although            c. so that               d. but

29. He's rather shy,            …          he's not as bad as he used to be.

a. whereas             b. so that               c. while                 d. but

30. She'll be coming tonight,              …          I don't know exactly when.

a. whereas             b. but                   c. so that               d. in order to

31. This is one possible solution to the problem;      …       , there are others.

a. whereas             b. but                   c. although            d. however

32. I ate my lunch hurriedly    …

a. so that I may not be late.                 b. in order to be not late.

c. so that I wouldn't be late.                d. so as to not be late.

33. Leave early       …       miss the bus.

a. so that you wouldn't                        b. in order not

c. so you won't                                  d. in order that might

34. I enjoyed her new book,         …          it's not quite as good as her last one.

a. whereas             b. though              c. so that               d. in order to

35. They stole his shoes        …       he was sleeping.

a. whereas             b. but                   c. while                 d. although

36. We moved to Tehran        …      visit our friends more often.

a. so that we may  b. so as                  c. in order that       d. for

37. By ten o'clock I was feeling hungry        …          I'd had a large breakfast.

a. whereas             b. but                   c. although            d. while

38. He wore dark glasses         …       nobody would recognize him.

a. whereas             b. but                   c. so that               d. in order to

39. He kept asking me for the money,        …      I had told him I hadn't got it.

a. whereas             b. but                   c. so that               d. even though

40. Europe has a cold climate,        …        Arab countries are very warm.         

 a. whereas            b. although            c. so that               d. in order to

Lesson Seven

A: Vocabulary

1. His letter got lost somewhere in the post office never reached its         …          .

a. area                   b. distance             c. destination         d. purpose

2. In this part of the museum you can find some         …         of great historical value.

a. links                  b. differences        c. issues                d. documents

3. A: "Could you       …      me the sugar, please?"  B: "Here you are."

a. pass                  b. transfer              c. transport            d. forward

4. There is now no hope that the        …        children will be found alive.

a. boring                b. missing              c. addictive            d. updated

5. You can't work      …            for six hours without a break!

a. continuously      b. inexpensively     c. ordinarily           d surprisingly

6. I'll be upstairs, so could you       …         my phone calls up there please?

a. transport            b. compose           c. transfer              d. mail

7. The      …          of the picture on our television isn't very good.

a. activity               b. certainty            c. ability                d. quality

8. He            …                  this poem for his wife.

a. composed                   b. combined          c. contrasted         d. connected

9. Click on this           …      to visit our online bookstore.         

a. newsgroup         b. advertising         c. link                    d. document

10. There's a direct             …            between diet and heart disease.                             

a. access               b. link                    c. definition           d. addition

11. The system has been designed to give the user quick and easy      …         to the required information.

a. link                    b. access               c. comment           d. service

12. I'm going to         …              for someone to clean my house.

a. continue             b. forward             c. access               d advertise

13. What this country needs is a long-term policy for investment in science and       …       .

a. technology         b. communication d. destination         d. satellite

14. I found his new book on telecommunication totally         …            .

a. interchangeable b. unreadable         c. available            d. programmable

15. He reads all the newspapers in order to         …       with the latest news.

a. look up              b. speed up           c. keep up             d. turn up             

16. It requires for you to             …          a photo to your application form.

a. advertise            b. attach                c. compose           d. observe

17. I'll      …          his email to you if you're interested.

a. continue             b. forward             c. access               d advertise

18. None of us has much money so let's            …            what we've got.

a. communicate     b. combine            c. voyage              d. develop

19. She's very possessive about her toys and finds it hard to       …      .       

a. share                 b. offer                  c. join                    d. require

20. It doesn't have much to       …         as a town; its shops are poor and there's only one cinema.

a. share                 b. offer                  c. join                    d. require