Can I learn English in 18 months?

Here´s a very interesting article written by Luiz Otavio Barros, and it deals with the issue of the time in which a person can become fluent in English, I recommend you to read it.

Can I learn English in 18 months?

10 Tips to Improve Behavior Management

1 Be in charge.

As the teacher, and the adult, you are ‘in charge’. It is your classroom and you must actively and consciously make the rules and decisions, rather than letting them happen out of habit, poor organisation or at the whim of the pupils.

Demonstrate your ‘in-chargeness’ by the position you take in the room; keep on your feet as much as possible and be where you can watch everything that is going on. Pupils should be convinced you have eyes in the back of your head! Pick up the good things they are doing (see number 3 below). Keep moving around the classroom to establish yourself as the focal point of interest and authority.

Remember that the pupils need to feel safe; they can only do this if you are in charge. Do not justify or apologise for your rules, your standards or your insistence on compliance.

2 Use positive classroom rules.

Pupils need to know what is expected of them in your classroom. Establish a set of rules, no more than 4 or 5, which make desired behaviour explicit; display them prominently in the room and refer to them frequently so that they don’t disappear into the wallpaper!

The rules should tell the pupils what to do, rather than what not to do, eg

O Don’t call out.

          P Put up your hand and wait to speak.

O Don’t walk around the classroom.

          P Stay in your seat.

O Don’t break things.

                    P Look after classroom equipment.

Praise good behaviour and refer to the rule being followed. Use the rules to point out inappropriate behaviour, “Remember our rule about …”

Have a ‘feature’ rule now and again, written on the board and tied to a special individual or class reward to be given to pupils who follow the rule.

3 Make rewards work for you.

Give pupils relevant rewards for desirable behaviours, starting tasks, completing tasks, following class rules, etc. The goal is to establish the HABIT of co-operation. Standards can be subtly raised once the habit has been established. The easiest, quickest and most appreciated reward is descriptive praise.

Other possible rewards, besides those used as a school-wide system are:

• a note home to parents
• name on a special chart which earns a later tangible reward
• being given special responsibilities
• being allowed to go first
• having extra choices

4 Catch them being good.

Praise is the most powerful motivator there is. Praise the tiniest steps in the right direction. Praise often, using descriptive praise, for example, ‘It can be annoying having to look up words in the dictionary. I can see you are getting impatient but the dictionary is still open in front of you. You haven’t given up.’ Or, ‘I can see you don’t want to come in from break, but you are facing the right direction for coming in.’ Be willing to appreciate the smallest of effort and explain why it pleases you.

Pupils will not think you are being too strict and will not resent your firm decision making if you remember to smile, to criticise less and to praise more. Tell the pupils there will be positive consequences for positive behaviour, then follow through and show them.

Stick to your guns and don’t be ‘bullied’ into giving rewards that haven’t been earned.

Some positive behaviours are easily overlooked. Try to remember to praise pupils for:

• homework in on time
• homework in late but at least it’s in
• working quietly
• good attendance
• neat desk
• not swinging on chair
• smiling
• contributing to class discussion
• helping another pupil
• not laughing at another pupil’s mistakes
• promptly following your instructions
• wearing glasses
• using common sense

Use the reward systems of the school consistently and fairly.

5 Be specific and clear in your instructions

Get a pupil’s full attention before giving instructions. Make sure everyone is looking at you and not fiddling with a pencil, turning around, looking at a book, etc. Only give instructions once; repeating can unwittingly train a pupil to not bother to listen properly the first time. Smile as you give instructions.

Don’t be too wordy and don’t imply choice when there actually isn’t a choice by tacking ‘Okay?’ on the end, or sound as though you are merely suggesting, ‘Would you like to …?’ ‘How about …?’  ‘Don’t you think you should …?’

Be very clear in all your instructions and expectations. Have a pupil repeat them back to you.

6 Deal with low level behaviours before they get big

Low level, or minor, behaviour infringements will escalate if they are

not dealt with quickly and consistently. A pupil’s behaviour is reinforced

when he gets attention for it, but don’t be tempted to ignore it. Find a

calm and quiet way to let the child know that you see exactly what he is

doing and that there is a consequence, without making a fuss, getting

upset or sounding annoyed.

Give your instructions once only. If the pupil continues to misbehave, instead of repeating your original instruction, try one or more of these actions:

• point to a place (eg on the board, on a post-it in the pupil’s book, a note on your desk) where you wrote down the original instruction at the time you first gave it
• use a description of reality, ‘Alfie, you are tapping your ruler.’
• stop everything and look at the pupil pointedly and wait for them to figure out why
• descriptively praise those who are behaving appropriately, praise the target pupil as soon as  he complies
• ask other pupils what is needed (the squirm factor)

Always follow through, even on minor infractions, so that pupils know there is no point in testing. They should know what will happen. Only give second chances after a period of good behavior.

7 The consequences of non-compliance.

Help the pupil to do whatever you’ve asked him to do. If he has thrown pencils on the floor, help him to pick them up.

If a pupil does not obey instructions straight away, do not give up. Keep waiting. Praise every little step in the right direction, even the absence of the wrong thing. For example, if you’ve just asked a pupil to stand up and he’s not doing it, you could say, ‘You’re not swearing now, thank you.’

Do not protect the pupil from the consequences of his action or lack of action. The pupil is making a choice and you will have told him this, and given a clear warning of the consequence.

A consequence should be uncomfortable and not upsetting enough to breed more resentment. The purpose of the consequence is to prompt the pupil to think, ‘I wish I hadn’t done that.’

Have a ready repertoire of easy to implement and monitor consequences. These might include:

• loss of choices (eg where to sit)
• loss of break time
• loss of a privilege
• sitting in silence for a set amount of time

8 Find a ‘best for both outcome’.

Avoid confrontational situations where you or the pupil has to back down. Talk to the pupil in terms of his choices and the consequences of the choices, and then give them ‘take up’ time.

‘Fred, I want you to leave the room. If you do it now we can deal with it quickly. If you choose not to then we will use your break time to talk about it. It’s your choice. I’ll meet you outside the door in two minutes.’ Then walk away and wait.

‘Joe, put your mobile phone in your bag or on my desk. If you choose not to do that it will be confiscated,’ then walk away and wait.

9 Establish ‘start of lesson’ routines.

Never attempt to start teaching a lesson until the pupils are ready. It’s a waste of everyone’s energy, giving the impression it’s the teacher’s job to force pupils to work and their job to resist, delay, distract, wind up, etc. Often this task avoidance is a ‘smoke screen’ hiding worries about what you are going to ask them to do.

Have a routine way of starting a lesson; a quiet activity that pupils can get right down to, without needing any explanation. Handwriting, copying the lesson objectives from the board, spelling practice (familiar key language from the current topic), mental arithmetic are good activities to set a quiet tone. Do not allow discussion or be drawn into discussion yourself – say there will be time for that later and make sure you follow this through.

If you take the time to establish this, lessons will start themselves! You won’t have that battle at the beginning of every lesson to get yourself heard.

10 Manage the end of the lesson.

Do not run your lesson right up to the last minute and then have to rush because the next class is waiting. Allow time to wind down, answer questions, put equipment away, refer to WILT and how this has been met, outline plans for next lesson, etc.

Have a short, educational game up your sleeve if there is time to spare.

Manage the pupils’ exit of the room, have them stand behind their chairs and wait to be asked to leave. Address each pupil by name and have them tell you some good news about the lesson, or you tell them something they did well today. Send them out one-by-one.

Great site with lots of posters with quotes about teaching!

Great posters with quotes about teaching which have been incredibly popular, so in this website you´ll find lots more of them.
Download them FREE now from http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/more/management/contents_staffroomquotes.htm

PNIEB Criteria and Assessment Instruments

PNIEB - NEPBE- Professional Development Workshop, Example of Criteria and Assessment Instruments. 

Academic Writing: Process and Product

This publication deals with different aspects of academic writing and its teaching, including that of essay writing, project writing, scientific writing, writing for examinations, and article writing.
http://englishagenda.britishcouncil.org/milestones/academic-writing-process-and-product

8 Myths About English Fluency: Part I

What is fluency and what’s the best way to teach and learn it?

From my teaching practice I realize that the majority of my attitudes and beliefs about fluency and language learning were based on popular misconceptions generated by people who knew very little about reaching fluency.

Not only were they completely wrong, but these ideas were counterproductive to my own language learning and teaching, leaving me frustrated, confused and stagnant. I realized that my success as both a language learner and teacher would depend on me opening my mind and developing a new perspective.

The first thing I had to learn as a language learner and English teacher was separate fact from fiction, which meant abandoning my own false ideas that no longer served me or my students.

MYTH 01- FLUENT SPEAKERS DON’T MAKE MISTAKES

ADVICE: RELAX AND MAKE LOTS OF MISTAKES: COMMUNICATION > GRAMMAR

There´s a popular idea that fluency is a magical land of perfect grammar, native-like pronunciation, and unobstructed communication.

The truth is that fluency is none of these. The truth is that few people, if any (including native speakers) speak with perfect grammar, and nearly 99.9% of people who learn English as a second language will always have some sort of accent from their native language. Learn to accept this and be okay with it. You can work to smooth it out, but your accent is your cultural identity, and this isn’t a bad thing.

Good language learners learn to communicate first (or at the same time as they learn grammar), and they work through their grammar and pronunciation problems on a parallel basis or after. Mistakes will surely happen when you open your mouth, but this is the path to fluency. The baby doesn’t learn to walk by crawling. She falls and falls A LOT.

MYTH 02- FLUENCY COMES WHEN YOU LEARN ALL THE GRAMMAR

ADVICE: YOU SHOULD CULTIVATE PIECES OF FLUENCY FROM THE START

Another popular misconception, which goes hand in hand with Myth 1, is the idea that fluency is a distant reality that will come one day when you’ve learned enough English grammar.

It’s okay to expect fluency in the future and big advances in your grammar, and this is sure to happen with diligence and hard work, but you can start finding the courage to attempt small everyday pieces of fluency right now. Theory and practice should go hand in hand throughout the entire process. If you are not learning to use the grammar you learn now, you will probably forget it later.

Successful learners are able to cultivate fluency from the very beginning in specific situations. If you know only know how to introduce yourself, learn how to do this with confidence by doing it a lot, whenever, wherever, and with whoever you can. Learn basic survival English, how to say hello and goodbye, and start thinking about every grammar lesson you learn as something you will apply the next day.

This will be a big shift in your attitude that will help with everything else, bits of fluency that will not go away. It’s almost as if you are writing a script for a play that you will act in over and over again.

Every situation has an opportunity for fluency, and the first thing you should focus on are everyday situations. Fluency is not just an abstract long-term plan, but a daily opportunity that you can cultivate.

The more real life situations that you find, such as an English language learning community or group and making English a part of your daily life with Lifestyle English, the easier and more interesting your experience will be.

MYTH 03- YOU MUST STUDY ABROAD/ BE IMMERSED IN IT TO GET FLUENT

ADVICE: MAKE YOUR LIFESTYLE A CONSTANT ENGLISH IMMERSION 

A study abroad/ English exchange program can be an amazing learning experience, a big help for fluency, as well as a great pleasure for your life, but it’s not a magic pill for your failures at home nor a must for reaching fluency.

There are a lot of people who believe such an experience to be the solution to all their English problems. They often buy into the myth, spend a lot of time and money going, only to come back disappointed by not having learned much English.

If you have the time and resources and are a self-directed learner, I would also recommend trying to plan backpacking trip and finding schools or programs independently as you go along. Nothing is better than meaningful cultural adventure that will grant you social and linguistic opportunities. If you want to speak English the entire type, it might be a good idea to travel alone or without other people from your country.

Even if you don’t leave your home country, fluency can be closer than you think if you adapt the proper lifestyle to support an enjoyable, consistent process that enables you to live your life through English. In this way, you don’t even need to study because you it’s part of your life and you experience it with enthusiasm.

MYTH 04-YOU NEED A CERTIFICATE/EXTERNAL APPROVAL TO BE FLUENT

ADVICE: USE CERTIFICATE EXAMS TO COMPLIMENT FLUENCY, NOT DEFINE IT

Fluency is not an external piece of paper, nor the approval of your friends or workmates. You are the only one who can decide if you’re fluent. If you need these external validations for your own personal sense of fluency, you probably haven’t developed the confidence, clarity and courage to really be okay with your level.

Receiving a piece of paper that shows you learned how to take a standardized test won’t fix that. Only real life use of the language and contact with the culture can give you a sense of personal ownership (i.e. fluency) over the language you are using.

While these tests are great and useful for giving a certain integrity and balance to your process and measuring your progress in some of the more technical areas, don’t confuse the guidance tools for the essence of your own personal sense of where you are and what you need to do.

There are plenty of people armed with a test score that gives them a sense of false confidence about their English level, while not knowing how to communicate spontaneously in a real life cultural situation that calls for them to respond in the most human and personal of ways.

CALL TO ACTION

Your call to action today is to consider and reflect upon your beliefs and attitudes toward English fluency. Do you have a good idea of what fluency is? Do you know what it feels like? Are you entirely committed?

And what about myths and preconceptions that might be damaging your language learning process? Have you abandoned the garbage that holds you back? Challenge yourself to become a better language learner and not except mediocrity.

7 Qualities to Maximize the Impact of your Lessons Plans

There are obviously many, many things that teachers can do to maximize the chances of an individual lesson going well. This tip shares just a few elements that research (and personal experience) tend to say are important. It is not designed as a universal checklist for teachers to ensure that every lesson they do includes every characteristic listed. On occasion, some successful lessons might not include any of these qualities. Other times, some teachers might include most of them.

Strategic Introductions

A strategic introduction to a lesson includes several aspects:

• Novelty: Grab students’ attention by introducing information, a topic, or a lesson in a different way.
• Relevance: Provide explicit suggestions on how students will be able to transfer what they learn into other aspects of their lives.
• Written and Verbal Instructions: When students forget what to do, teachers can then just point to the instructions instead of repeating them.
• Modeling: Explicity model your thinking process, and show students examples of other students' work.
• Activate Prior Knowledge: Remind students of how what they are going to learn relates to what they have previously learned.
• Translating: Ask students to "translate" important concepts into their own words.

Movement

Creating opportunities for students to move—at least a bit—during lessons can be successful. Students could move to be with a partner for a quick "think-pair-share" activity, or go to a small group to work on a project for a longer time.

Choices

Choices can include being asked for their partner preferences, allowed to choose which reading strategies they would like to demonstrate, invited to choose where they would like to sit during small group sessions, or given two or more options of writing prompts.

Minimize Lecture & Maximize Cooperative Learning

Studies show that smaller groups work best, with three or four students being the maximum. I personally prefer sticking with pairs for most of a school year, and possibly moving to three near the last quarter after six months of student experience with the process.

Wait Time

The average time between a teacher posing a question and a student giving the answer is approximately one second. Multiple studies show that the quality and quantity or student responses increases when the wait time is increased to between three and seven seconds.

Fun

Games are good tools for review, and can function as a quick three-minute break or transition time.

Feedback

It has been found that if students are expecting to receive "rapid" feedback—a teacher's verbal or written response shortly after the work is completed—the quality of student work increases.