#Keltchat Summary for 25/11/12 – Task-based Learning in Korea

This summary was written by @johnpfordresher, whose own excellent blog stylings can be found at http://observingtheclass.wordpress.com

Another Keltchat has come and gone, and once again a lively debate helped the collective better understand Tasked Based Learning (TBL). A quick roll call was conducted and then on to the TBL goodness.

@breathyvowel moderated the event masterfully and began by asking participants who had tried TBL and how strong a form of TBL they usually use.

• @johnpfordresher admitted to weakly attempting it a few times.
• @hallg has used medium strength TBL with her int/high university level “comm skill” courses and is eager to try more after the positive responses she has received from her students.
• @GemL1 has tried to strictly stick to the tenets of TBL a few times, and loosely applied them at others.
• @ChopEDU told the group that he first began using TBL tasks before he knew they were TBL tasks.
• @michaelgriffin has done them strongly numerous times and received mixed feedback from his students, however the final results of his TBL tasks were “fabulous”.
• @SophiaKhan has used them but with less structure than others
• @yitzha_sarwono has only used TBL slightly over the years.

Asking about what negative feedback students have given teachers regarding TBL Michael Griffin reported, “We [students] don’t know what we are **LEARNing.” And not enough teacher support.

With that came the end of the first part of our discussion and our moderator moved onto asking why TBL is “not so big here in Korea?’

• @hallg probably b/c test-taking is such a strong focus?
• @michaelgriffin chimed in whit his typical humor “I wonder…I just don’t know it could be… umm maybe.. well I think mm what about GRAMMAR… (yeah that’s it)”
• @sophiakhan Yes, can be scary for both T & students – less control/predictability. Students may not understand the validity
• @GemL1 because they like to focus on grammar and prefer / r used to approaches like PPP. And teacher centered classes are more popular here.
• @chopEDU wondered if traditional/cultural views of student/teacher roles in Korea inhibit the acceptance of TBL?
• @michaelgriffin speculated TBL might be an approach used more if teachers were very explicit and showed students TBL was a “thing” and not made up. More to buy into
• @sophiakhan so maybe in Korea the face validity is a big thing (showing that it is a researched and established approach)
• @Seouldaddy notes that task based instruction is taught in teacher prep but reality sets in when they get a job

Our moderator @breathyvowel then adroitly moved the discussion forward with the following question. So my thinking is that students passive knowledge could be activated by TBL, no? Everyone readily agreed. Mr. Moderator then asked us what positives could come from utilizing a TBL approach in our classes here in Korea.

• @hallg breath of fresh air for Ss tired of stale class life?
• @keisenhow accomplishing a task brings confidence
• @gemL1 gives Ss the opportunity to b creative both with language and in other ways, welcome break from normal approach
• @michaelgriffin redresses the (un)balance that we have been talking about
• @chopEDU TBL enables Ss to use language in meaningful ways

(On a side note @johnpfordresher asked what exactly a “task” entailed.

• @Rhettteacher Agreed! Esp with #youngesllearners Give me a pencil task or activity?
• @hallg basically: goal-oriented, adaptive, authentic, meaningful, etc. activity
• @sophiakhan This is a v. imp Q. For me a ‘task’ is not just an activity. Must be real life purpose & entail a range of lang
• @hallg – agreed!! real-life purpose esp….I always tried to tell/show my Ss how tasks reflected ‘real life’
• @chopEDU a task is some kind of communicative (and potentially authentic) activity that has a clear outcome)

Our moderator then asked the group to think about how they have, or could, implement TBL in their classrooms here in Korea.

(This led to another side note started by @seouldaddy said, “I don’t believe that it is that valuable in the current environment. #keltchat great for developing communicative competence but that’s not the focus now. @Keisenhow disagreed and said the new NEAT test was designed specifically for communicative competence. @rhettteacher mentioned that extra curricular teaching plans are being phased out! Korea should find a more TBL curriculum.)

•  @hallg suggested we revise or create one task based on book focus/content…& try it out…revise strategy & expand. One ‘real life’ task I did was to get Ss to participate in panel discussion…b/c my students were likely to do something like that in future. I’ve had Ss introduce how to make a presentation or how to design & edit a video.. real-life for my classes, too
• @GemL1 suggested TBL doesn’t have to be a whole lesson, can just be an activity. most people have probably used TBL without realizing / calling it that. Ideas: planning trips, planning a dinner party, job interviews, making a documentary
• @seouldaddy WebQuests are a nice problem-based approach. Many of the examples online aren’t aging gracefully, but the approach is solid.
• @breathyvowel asked “In some forms of TBL, the tasks are graded & designed to push students to the language they need. Anyone ever tried doing this?
• @michaelgriffin I have designed tasks to meet language needs of students, which are discovered through prev. tasks. I don’t really have much to say about implementation aside from try it out and be brave and ready to justify decisions. #justdoit
• @rhettteacher implementation is a evolving process. It changes each time you teach. Teach Students, not classes.

@GemL1 noted it is difficult to assess using standard tools which led our moderator to ask about for participants to share any experience with self-assessment that they have had. @rhettteacher mentioned his elementary assessments in my class often get a smiley face for successfully participating in the “task”

As time was drawing to a close our moderator asked participants if there were any drawbacks to using TBL in our classes.

• @breathyvowel Downside – monolingual classes may use a lot of L1 when completing the task
• @michaelgriffin Downsides include students not seeing/feeling progress (suggestions include making sure they can). Students might feel lost without T input. Potential Solution: Lots of feedback. Ah, another tip: Realize and express to students the teacher realizes that this is different! Help them feel that it is an (planned!) adventure. More advice, Forget bout Ellis/Willis/Ect and make it your own for something that works for you and your students.
• @hallg yes feedback is so important. Also, helping Ss along the way with scaffolding. For example, when doing int vids, I model how to approach Subjs & ask for perm to interview & record
• @GemL1 – potential downside – some Ss may dominate and contribute a lot more than others, solution: assign specific roles
• @leoselivan I like the idea with specific roles and perhaps rotate them too

@michaelgriffin I didn’t even vote for this topic and I don’t have much to say.

And with that the chat came to a close.

A whirlwind of an hour it was, I hope this summary has helped to piece together the many lines of thought brought out by Mr. Alex Grevett. A great thanks to him for expertly moderating and helping all of us work out the ins, outs and what have yous regarding TBL in Korea.

Some confusion lingered throughout the chat as to the definition between TBL and PBL. Perhaps this would be a good topic for a future discussion? Do you have any ideas for our next chat? If you do, add them in the comment section below, or find us on Facebook at #Keltchat.

Links

–Write up on strong form TBL – http://kevingiddens.posterous.com/teddy-bears-bookmaking-and-publishing-ceos-ta

–A TBL idea mentioned by @hallg and @gemL1 – http://fiftypeopleonequestion.com/

–Michael Griffin shared a review of “widgets”- a different type of coursebook- http://eltrantsreviewsreflections.wordpress.com/542-2/ and http://www.widgets-inc.com/teacher/tblt.php

–The great @Kevchanwow talks TBL- http://theotherthingsmatter.blogspot.kr/2012/04/4-approach-challenge-or-attempt-to.html

–Six things all language teachers should know about tasks – http://sixthings.net/2010/06/25/six-things-all-language-teachers-should-know-about-tasks/

–@GemL1 shared a good example of a TB grammar lesson which can be found here-  http://www.onestopenglish.com/grammar/grammar-teaching/task-based-grammar-teaching/

–@leoselivan shared this link to “From tasking purposes to purposing tasks” by Anthony Burton- http://www.eltj.org/ELTJ%20debate%202003/bruton1.pdf

–@leoselivan defends TBL – http://leoxicon.blogspot.kr/2012/05/in-defence-of-tbl.html

–@keisenhow mentioned “Rod Ellis has a clear and concise slide show on TBLT on Slide Share- . http://www.slideshare.net/search/slideshow?searchfrom=header&q=task-based+language+teaching

–From Marisa Constantinidies- “Here is a good page from the Willises” – http://www.willis-elt.co.uk/taskbased.html

#KELTChat Preview: Task Based Learning in Korea – Sunday 25th November, 8pm

Hi everyone,

Introduction

This weeks poll resulted in a crushing victory for the topic of task-based learning. This is not entirely a surprise given that there has been some chat surrounding this on our Facebook group recently.

Background

For those of you who are new to the concept of task-based learning, here’s a Wikilink which outlines some of the definitions and issues. If you want to dig a little bit deeper, I would suggest these two articles which examine the concept of a task, and the influence that TBL has had on ELT publishing. Finally, should you wish to go the whole hog, here’s Dr. Andrew Finch’s evaluation of the task based learning program that was designed and implemented (and afaik is still being used) at Andong university.

Things to think about

This being #KELTChat, we’re happy for the discussion to take whatever form that it may. However, here are some things might come up in the chat if you wish to do some thinking beforehand.

• Have you ever tried TBL? Was it successful? Why?
• Why isn’t TBL more popular in Korea, especially in universities?
• What are some of the barriers to implementing TBL?
• If TBL’s focus is on task completion, how do we evaluate it?
• How can teachers design their own tasks effectively?
• What is the role of the teacher during the task?
• How might we get administrations to be more accepting of TBL?

If you have any other questions, opinions or musings outside of these areas, please do feel free to mention them in the chat. I hope to see you all on Sunday at 8pm.

If you’re new to Twitter chatting and aren’t sure quite how it works, check out this handy guide. If you have no idea what #KELTChat is, have a look here or here. You can also contact us through Twitter (@breathyvowel, @JosetteLB, @michaelegriffin, @alexswalsh, @annehendler, @johnpfordresher) or on our Facebook page.

Cheers

Alex G (@breathyvowel)

#KELTChat Poll for 25th November 2012

Hi everyone,

Having dealt with L2 output in the classroom last time (read Anne’s excellent summary here), #KELTChat returns at 8pm this coming Sunday and as usual the topic is up for grabs. I hope you know the drill by now – click the one you like best in the poll below, and sometime on Friday afternoon/evening we will check the results and write up a preview of the winning topic, and then discuss it on Sunday evening.

Happy voting!

Summary for #KELTchat Pepero Day: “Bringing L2 Output into our Classrooms”

Last Sunday’s #KELTchat fell on the Korean holiday of Pepero Day, a day reserved for the giving and receiving of chocolate coated crackers in the form of sticks. In spite of the holiday, #KELTchat forged ahead with our topic of “Bringing L2 output into our classrooms”. (See the preview here!) The chat was co-moderated by Alex Walsh and John Pfordresher.

After a brief roll-call, a hash-tag reminder, and some banter the chat began with Mr. Pfordresher’s question: “it’s said the maj of daily Eng comm is L2->L2. How do you think your Ss will be using Eng outside the classroom? #keltchat”

Answers ranged from “Maybe they won’t” and “right now, they probably aren’t at all, and in the future, I have no idea how they’ll use it” to “multicultural societies mean they are likely to meet people from other countries, Eng likely to be common language” and “My SS will likely use English for work and travel.. Realistically, in ELF contexts”. Other #KELTchatters agreed that students would use English for work, travel, business meetings and be exposed to English on TV, radio, movies as well as business and friendships. Some have students who want to be flight attendants or who want to emigrate to L1 countries or study abroad.

English, it was pointed out, is the language of the skies and also of the majority of the internet, especially since many online games are cooperative and English is the default – and as one chatter pointed out, some teachers use Second Life as an assignment for their students for that reason. Other chatters talked about the importance of computer-mediated communication and the interaction hypothesis (which states that L2 proficiency is promoted by face-to-face interaction). Students might also be interested in English-language comic books or video-games, or want to understand English songs or dramas. In Korea, students might find themselves needing English to communicate with stray lost foreigners.

The topic then turned to what goes on inside the classrooms: “perhaps next we could think about why using L2 output [summariser’s clarification: output from English learners of other L2s as input] could be beneficial? or a drawback? for our Ss #keltchat”

Some answers included:

@breathyvowel: My big point would be giving ex. of successful communication, creative language use that may be NS non-standard.

@JohnPfordresher: how about confidence? many Ss, esp in Korea, idealize American accent…many don’t realize the varied acceptable forms

@GemL1: what exactly do u mean drawbacks of using L2 output? Difficulties…?

@AlexSWalsh: exposure to culture of other l2 users i think also important
<There was a lot of agreement on this point.>

From this discussion a couple new questions arose:

@JohnPfordresher: “in terms of benefits: motivation is big in our field. could bringing L2 into our classrooms aid in terms of motivation? How?”

Some answers:

@AnneHendler: “motivation: students won’t feel like they have to be perfect.”

@AlexSWalsh: “i think the interest it creates can be intrinsically motivating if used correctly, esp’ regarding culture”

@breathyvowel: “I think if you can achieve some kind of connection to other L2 English users it could be hugely motivating.”

@languagebubble: “perhaps in raising awareness & acceptance, self-confidence in own output can be pos affected”

@ChopEDU: “Agreed. Ss can have unrealistic output expectations. Eg. speaking accuracy: achieved lang goal? = success IMHO”

@JohnPfordresher: “I’d agree. hyper focus on accuracy limits my Ss communicative competence. IMO”

@AlexSWalsh: “also hearing other l2 users and u/s them might make them more comfortable using l2 themselves”

Outside of the motivation factor, How can L2 input aid learning: @breathyvowel “Well, it’s often delivered at a slower rate, less idiomatic, and perhaps less connected speech so more comprehensible … and so perhaps a better chance of uptake/acquisition?” @JohnPfordresher: “i personally have seen greater noticing, and higher motivation to communicate. helps w/ ENG as only vehicle to comm” @languagebubble: “& offering a range of prosodic diffs can help listening comprehension & interpretability in general” @ChopEDU: “I believe classroom activities that focus on output should have a meaningful, communicative purpose – just sayin … …however, there’s a time and a place for output-focused instruction – Eg. Pronunciation”

A final stage of the chat focused on using L2 output as input in our own classes and activities to do so:

@JohnPfordresher: “moving into the final phases of our chat tonight…if L2 output were readily avail…how could you use it in your classrooms?”

@seouldaddy made his entrance with the reminder that L2 output is available: TED is full of useful talks by non-native speakers.

@seouldaddy: “Big fan of using Ss own output for class materials.Peer editing in writing classes, presentations/recordings in speaking classes.”  @JohnPfordresher: “how about ideas? L2 input tasks…and or L2 output tasks utilizing L2 output from sources outside the classroom?”  @seouldaddy: “certainly. these are how i’d use video sharing sites and some listening sites.” @ChopEDU: “How about drawing attention to common L2 errors by activities that promote ‘noticing’ in learner’s own output?” @AlexSWalsh: “again, I think that wud be a very important &effective task, teaching a St to correct themselves cant be overstated IMO”

Many ideas for using L2 input arose from the discussion:

@JohnPfordresher: “ideas – transcribe and decode…transcribe and determine ?/topic/subject matter … linking classrooms with ESL classrooms around the world…delayed interviews…” @languagebubble: “gonna try to step this up with Google Hangout to try to bridge that smart phone barrier” @AlexSWalsh: “i think imp’ aspect of activities has to be focusing Ss on understanding meaning of non-native english”

A popular idea was poster presentation: @michaelegriffin: “Poster presentations! just like make a poster (with a partner) and stand there and talk about it while others mill about. Then change roles” @languagebubble: “nice one… I’m trying Ss making board games this week and then playing each others games”

@annehendler: “idea: modifying output to be understood by international audience.” @JohnPfordresher: “idea- decode L2 output…try and improve it…”

Other ideas included the learners’ output library, L2 English interviews, penpals, language exchanges, and of course Facebook and Twitter.

@AlexSWalsh: “also it would be a shame not to mention the ESL Learners’ Output Library and take any questions you have for John or myself about it” @GemL1: “One Stop English have some good authentic listening interviews” @seouldaddy: “penpals is an old idea, but one that is still perfect for this topic.” @AlexSWalsh: “ye, i was thinking cyber penpals” @seouldaddy: “Epals is an old penpal site that’s still going strong” @GemL1: “yep and Ss can do this thru chat tools or even video chats.” @languagebubble: “To get output out there interculturally and interantionally, how about online lang. exchange? (Lang-8, The Mixxer, etc)  This also could be used as the portal to connect classrooms around country and world” @michaelegriffin: “Facebook? Twitter?”

And the #KELTchat closed with the astute reminder of why L2 input (and output) has a place in our classrooms – it shows that it is okay to make mistakes.

@ChopEDU: “Closing thought on output: mistakes in output might actually be a sign of learning progress!”

See the transcript for this chat at Storify!

 

Useful links on L2 output as input:

 1.usa.gov/RQhWZf ← Intercultural approach to EFL teaching and learning by Zofia Chlopek

Vimeo ← Authentic L2 English

Short of the Week ← another website for L2 videos

Wingclips ← another website for L2 videos

A Life Goals lesson on elllo ← see also the new post on The Breathy Vowel

Malcolm Gladwell on cockpit communication culture ← English in the air

http://web.ku.edu/~idea/northamerica/usa/massachusetts/massachusetts.htm ← accents and non-standard English

Elllo ← Recommended place to find video materials

ESLLOL ← Excellent resource for L2 output

One Stop English ← Another resource

Epals ← Penpals

Magicians RPG ← A language learning RPG (shared by @hallg)

Tale Crafters ← #KELTchatter @dbr_wn ‘s classroom RPG

Preview on Bringing L2 Output into our Classrooms.

[This preview was written by John Pfordresher.]

Hello Keltchatters,

The next Keltchat will be Sunday November 11, 2012.
The chat will start at 8:00 PM Korea Standard Time (+9GMT).
The topic will be Bringing L2 Output into our Classrooms.

The topic, elected by Keltchat members, to discuss this week will deal with how we as educators can bridge the gap between the classroom and the world beyond.

English has become a global language and is used by non-native speakers as a means for communication. Everyday around 75% of English communication in the world is conducted via non-native speakers.

This begs the question (especially here in Korea), are we preparing our students for this reality?

The Korean education system favors specific countries from which to recruit their native teachers. The textbooks and CD-roms it chooses are highly Americanized. Our British friends know all too well the difficulties students have, in the beginning, understanding them.  What if a student met someone from Ghana? Or Russia? How would that student respond? Would they have the communicative competence needed to successfully navigate such an encounter?

Through our discussion we will tackle these questions and really explore the “why” element of bringing varied forms of output into the classroom.

Things to consider before the chat:

• How could bringing non-native output into our classroom benefit our students? (or possibly hinder?)

• What effect would bringing L2 output into class have on our students?
  • Motivation?
  • Curiosity?
  • Awareness?

In addition, for the second half of our discussion we will devote time to discussing ideas on how exactly we can bring those varied forms of output into our classrooms.

Things to consider for before the chat might be:

• Is it possible to do with the demands placed on teachers today? How?

•  How do you find authentic material for your classroom?

• What resources exist online that might help us achieve such a goal?

If you have time you might want to head over to esllol.org and see what two of our Keltchatters have put together regarding the topic of our discussion.

Any further links or resources would be greatly appreciated, and can be added through the comments section below.

We hope to see you all there at 8:00 for a lively discussion.

Cheers,

John (@johnpfordresher)

#KELTchat poll for 11th November 2012

Hi all,

This weekend #KELTChat returns again, following last time’s discussion of the Lexical Approach with our first ever guest moderator! You can read the summary of it here.

This time we have three new topics for you to choose from below. As usual, simply vote for the one that you would like to chat about on Sunday. We will announce the winning topic tomorrow evening.

Cheers,

Alex G (@breathyvowel)

#KELTchat Summary: Lexical Approach – October 28th, 2012

The evening began a little earlier than usual with Alex Grevett (@breathyvowel) offering helpful tips to new KELTchat participants. Not only was this helpful to newcomers, but even an old hand like me (:P) learned something new. I look forward to more Alex’s handy tips! Click here for some of those tips – and the transcript of the night’s chat.

This was the perfect lead-in for the landmark discussion ahead. This was the first time KELTchat had a guest co-moderator; Leo Selivan, lexis connoisseur, stepped in to fill this role. I recommend reading this chat’s preview to learn more about his exemplary background. Along with the super sidekick-like moderation of Michael Griffin, a group of new chatters from inside and outside Korea, lurkers, and old-time tweeters were ready to talk “chunks”.

The discussion started with Leo asking us when we first heard of the Lexical Approach (LA) – also a fun way to get the roll call for the evening:

• @JohnPfordresher first heard of it in TESOL cert, and have tried to use it in class since…that was….late 2009
• @breathyvowel About a year ago, mostly through the concept of chunks. Just finished Lewis’s 1993 book today.
• @Lexzicon During my masters at Victoria University of Wellington…Studying under Paul Nation he was all about it
• @michaelegriffin maybe just maybe it was fall 1999….I took a TESOL course (with Chris Mares! cc @johnpfordresher) and it was briefly mentioned
• @JosetteLB heard of it during my MA studies at SIT from Radmila Popovic… I think that was 2007
• @GemL1 heard of it during my DipTESOL course when reading bout different approaches
• @AnneHendler Last year for me.
• @AlexandraGuzik On a teaching course in Britain

The moderators then gave us this challenge: @leoselivan if you had to sum up in 1 sentence the main principle of LA what would you say it is? – @michaelegriffin What do we mean when we say “lexical approach?” (challenge in 130 something characters I suppose)

• @JohnPfordresher first word comes to mind is “chunks” ie, chunks of language
• @yitzha_sarwono the idea that important part of learning language consists of being able to understand & produce lexical phrases
• @breathyvowel Something like pay attention to (authentic?) usage, not rules.
• @AnneHendler lexis is learned more naturally from the top down than the bottom up (maybe?)
• @JohnPfordresher LA teaches English thru chunks of language, gives Ss lexis based round their needs, uses lots of recycling
• @michaelegriffin Worry about words (and not just words by themselves) first and grammar will/can follow.
• @languagebubble LA lets the speaker focus on the message by putting the pieces together (as opposed with thinking about each word or rule)
• @AlexandraGuzik noticing the language, being curious is LA

A brief but interesting discussion on the role of translation in relation to LA. Should we or shouldn’t we?

• @JohnPfordresher im not sure there is ever a situation to say never… except never use never. def w/discretion ;)
• @breathyvowel I think that Lewis (see book reference at then end of this post) has it more or less right with his scale of meaning-value. Some high value words are L1>L2 subs.
• @leoselivan to sum up, translation is certainly YES as long as u don’t translate single words. Always translate whole chunks / phrases.

Success stories and strategies for teaching LA:

• @AlexandraGuzik I’ve made a reading diary where Ss put down ten new expressions from a piece of text, they guess meanings…then check with the dictionary and make own examples, then retell using new phrases…They record and email me, then we discuss for 10-15min a lesson…I listen and analyse, but my groups are 8-10 students
• @GemL1 mind maps where Ss include common collocations r useful
• @JosetteLB I teach my advanced learners how to use corpus.byu.edu/coca/ Can’t say how successful it is, but they are v happy to learn
• @JohnPfordresher i use my multi-colored chalk to highlight chunks within text…i just write the “chunks” using different colors, alternating colors, anything to make them stand out
• @michaelegriffin My (weak?) strategy is just to keep hammering home that there is such a thing as collocation. Ss often seem surprised by this.
• @leoselivan Start w/ basis: underline all adjectives; now underline nouns they go with > @breathyvowel Interesting that you start with adjectives. From reading Lewis I would have thought that nouns might work better? > @leoselivan it was just a suggestion :) Verbs are a good place to start too
• @languagebubble get your school to invest in some Cuisenaire Rods (for tactile learners)

LA in Korea:

• @breathyvowel I think that an LA would work well in Korea. The system seems reliant on vocab memorization. Why not collocations/chunks too?
• @GemL1 agree, think it would work well here as long as Ss were taught common and not obscure / incorrect collocation!@breathyvowel I think it would give them more of a sense of ‘learning’ too, in the, err, Korean sense of the word.

And to end the night, a poetic quote from @michaelegriffin:

a brilliant person once said, “LA is like an exotic fruit– everyone’s heard of it but no one knows what it tastes like.”

I’d love to know who that brilliant person was. :) We may not know the taste, but thanks to this chat, now we may have a better sense of it.

Leo’s top quotes:

• @AnneHendler a holistic view of the language is certainly one of the underlying principle of LA
• @breathyvowel that’s a good one. We don’t like rules but we like useful patterns :)
• @JohnPfordresher excellent. focus on chunks rather than individual words (e.g. collocations) and recycle a lot
• Not single words – I’d say that’s the most important principle…if we translate this principle into practice, I’d say you should never write on board single words – that’s essential…e.g. instead of “home” write “… is AT home” or instead of “achieve” write “achieve a goal” – encourage Ss to copy down same way…if you talk about semi-fixed expressions, that’s it alright to shove on the board single words that complete it…for example ‘it didn’t …. first time’ – WORK / HAPPEN / SUCCEED – an idea taken from Ken Lackman’s LA resource book.
• @AlexandraGuzik thank u. Lewis originally claimed that noticing was even more important that output…and exploring language with students instead of explaining
• @JosetteLB Corpus is a gr8 tool for adv.learners. Promotes learner autonomy too!
• Memorization plays an important role in LA. But always encourage Ss to memorise chunks, e.g. 1 new word + 1 old word (its friend)

Resources and links

• @michaelegriffin interesting article on chunks/vocab cards in latest #KOTESOL TEC: koreatesol.org/sites/defaul… very slow to load/might need to be a member
• @breathyvowel Also, if you’re interested in the LA, I’d highly recommend @hughdellar ‘s blog. For example: bit.ly/To0Un9

Leo’s suggested links:

• A series of articles and activities using the Lexical approach www.teachingenglish.org.uk/try/activities/lexical-approach-classroom-activities
• My article on teaching grammar through lexical patterns www.teachingenglish.org.uk/articles/grammar-vs-lexis-or-grammar-through-lexis
• Why I won’t say goodbye to the Lexical Approach by Hannah Kryzsewska – excellent article written from a NNEST perspectivewww.hltmag.co.uk/mar03/mart2.htm
• Lesson plan – Money collocations www.teachingenglish.org.uk/try/lesson-plans/vocabulary-lesson-money
• Online collocation dictionary www.just-the-word.com/ and how you can use it (my activity) http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/activities/playing-lexical-cards
• Andrew Walkley’s blog post: teaching lexically for low levels / beginners http://blog.westminster.ac.uk/celt/2012/10/11/the-problem-of-lexical-sets-and-some-alternative-approaches/
• Ken Lackman’s activity ebooks (incl. semi fixed expressions) – costs money :( but there are free previews http://kenlackman.com/activitybooks2.html
• Pick any other useful links from this collection of mine: http://www.scoop.it/t/teaching-lexically/

Leo’s suggested books:

• Lewis, M. (1993). The Lexical approach: the state of ELT and a way forward. Hove: LTP
• Lewis, M. (1997). Implementing the lexical approach. Hove: LTP
• Lewis, M. (2000). Teaching collocation. Hove: LTP
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