The Language Teacher
01 - 2003
Keeping Our Students On The Go
Nick Dawson
Longman ELT
Longman ELT would like to thank The Language Teacher for this opportunity to give a behind-the-scenes insight into how materials are shaped from conception to printed material. This insight into On The Go is brought to us by Steven Gershon, Obirin University, coauthor of On The Go and On The Move. He is also the coauthor of Longman's Sound Bytes.
Like many language teachers, I teach a fair number of students whose motivation is, well, let's say unfocused. They graze through their English studies, nibbling a conversation course here, a listening course there--all the while not quite sure if they want a light snack or a full meal. Now don't get me wrong. I'm not saying these students don't like English or don't study hard--often far from it. It's just that their reasons for being in class (apart from needing the credits) are not always obvious to me, or to themselves.
Student Needs
I teach a class called Eigo No Sekai (The English World). It's required for all first year students in my department as an overview of the various areas of English study they can pursue for their degree. As this class has 130 students in it (yes, 130!), I figure it's a good opportunity to do some informal needs assessment research. In the excitement of the first lesson, I ask my new students to write down why they think it's useful to study English. As one would expect, the answers are varied, a few being quite specific, but most displaying a familiar TENOResque (Taking English for No Obvious Reason) flavor. Here's a representative sample:
I can feel more comfortable when I travel abroad.
To talk with foreigners I meet.
I could communicate with my host family on a homestay.
To learn about other countries and cultures.
I want to be a more international person.
English in the World
I ask my students why they need English to be an international person. The essence of their responses is most often the recognition that English is (for better or for worse!) everywhere. Specific examples of this omnipresence, however, are not so quickly forthcoming. I therefore use the lull to offer an English in the World quiz (imagine the following statements with the underlined numbers deleted):
- English is spoken as a first language by around___400___ million people.
- Nearly 1 in ___2___ EU citizens claim to be able to converse in English.
- More than ___1 billion___ people in the world speak English as a second or foreign language.
- About ___75___% of all mail in the world is written in English.
- About ___80___% of all information in the world's computers is in English.
Just in case the above facts don't give my students pause to ponder, I offer the following:
- English is the official language of the world's airline travel and tourism industries.
- English is the language of international trade. When Asian business people do business with other Asians, Latin Americans, or Europeans, they usually do it in English.
- Speakers of English as a second or foreign language in the world today greatly outnumber those who speak it as a first language.
Sources: www.britishcouncil.org & www.the_english_dept.tripod.com
After the students' shrieks of surprise fade, they are usually left with the concrete realization that it's getting more and more difficult to get through life--academically, professionally, and socially--without some English contact. Moreover, it's clear that in their future interactions in English, they are just as likely--perhaps more likely--to be interacting with other nonnative speakers as with native speakers.
Doing Things in English
Having established that English is hard (and getting harder) to avoid, I ask my students what they'd like to be able to do in English. Once again, here's a representative sample:
- Talk about my family and interests
- Order a meal in a restaurant
- Shop for clothes and things
- Get information about tourist places
- Make a reservation for a hotel and flight
- Give my opinions about things
- Tell people about customs in my country
What the students have come up with here is, of course, a list of language functions. They include a fairly balanced mix of what we might call transactional functions (with an obvious intended outcome, like getting a meal or the right flight), and social functions (where the exchange of information is more for establishing and/or maintaining relationships). Intuitively, our students recognize they need both.
Tapping into motivation
Given our students' recognition of the range, scope, and unavoidable impact of English on their lives, along with their own collection of useful functions they'd like to be able to carry out in English, it makes sense then for us to tap into this built-in, even if dormant, motivation. We need to consider the materials we use in the classroom to make sure they reflect the realities of our students' English use in the world around them--for travel, for work, for study, for pleasure. Our materials need to provide our students opportunities to practice what they themselves can identify as being relevant, functional, and practical.
To take a closer look at On The Go, please visit www.englishonthego.com, speak with us directly at 03-3365-9002, or email us with questions or inspection copy requests at elt@pearsoned.co.jp.
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