Thomas Strasser Questions during the presentation!

10/8/2012
ORIENTIEREN IM FACH ENGLISCH (VO)
Principles of EFL didactics
Dr. Thomas Strasser (Vienna University of Teacher Education)
WS 2012/13
Thomas Strasser
Questions during
the presentation!
• http://todaysmeet.com/efldidactics
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10/8/2012
www.learning-reloaded.com
Contact details
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PH Wien, Grenzackerstrasse 18, 1100 Wien
Room 4.2053
thomas.strasser@phwien.ac.at
www.learning-reloaded.com
www.eportfolio.or.at
appointments: eMail
Register for Mahara (group Jindra)
http://mahara.phwien.ac.at
Contents
*Image by 70991752@N00 via Flickr
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Why become an EFL teacher?
EFL disciplines
The ‘what‘ of EFL teaching
The ‘how‘ of EFL teaching
The syllabus/Lehrplan
FAQs
Where to get useful stuff
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Assessment Criteria
• Final exam (90 mins., date?)
• Taxative and practical knowledge
• Dates tba
Main references for
this lecture
• Haß, Frank (ed.).(2006) Fachdidaktik
Englisch – Tradition-Innovation-Praxis.
Stuttgart: Ernst Klett Sprachen.
• Müller-Hartmann, A./Schocker-v. Ditfurth,
M. (2004): Introduction to English Language
Teaching. Stuttgart: Klett.
• Ur, Penny. (2000). A Course in Language
Teaching – Practice and Theory. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
• Harmer, Jeremy (2007). The Practice of
English Language Teaching. Longman ELT.
*Image by 57427143@N00 via Flickr
My virtual library
• http://goo.gl/EGt2Z
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A day in the life of an
English teacher …
Prologue
Why become an EFL-teacher?
Some thoughts …
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Prologue
Why become an EFL teacher?
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Prologue
Why become an EFL teacher?
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Official language in 53 countries
EFL=English as a Foreign Language
English as a Global language
English as a lingua franca (ELF)
89% of EU school children learn
English
• EFL serious academic discipline
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Prologue
Why become an EFL teacher?
EFL didactics
• Mackey (1973: 255): “It is likely that
EFL will continue to be a child of
fashion in linguistics and psychology
until the time it becomes an
autonomous discipline which uses
these related sciences instead of
being used by them.”
EFL didactics
• German-speaking context two disciplines
• Fremdsprachendidaktik and Sprachlehrforschung
• In common: both focus on teaching and learning of
foreign languages (in different contexts for all age
groups)
• Fremdsprachendidaktik important in establishing a
distinct discipline for teaching of modern languages
• Sprachlehrforschung establishes a distinct discipline
for study of teaching and learning of foreign
languages, independent of related disciplines
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Disciplines related to
EFL didactics
• Linguistics
describes languages as systems of human
communication:
*Image by 8786136@N06 via Flickr
Disciplines related
to EFL didactics
• Phonetics/phonology (sound systems,
1:22)
Disciplines related
to EFL didactics
• morphology (study of basic meaningful forms
in languages)
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Disciplines related
to EFL didactics
• syntax (sentence structure)
e.g. Yesterday he watched football.
He watched football yesterday.
He yesterday watched football (?).
Disciplines related
to EFL didactics
• semantics (meaning systems)
and
E.g. It’s raining cats and dogs.
I love you!
*Image by 96978404@N00 via Flickr
Disciplines related
to EFL didactics
• sociolinguistics (how language is used in
social contexts)
E.g. Discourse between men and women in certain
context.
Discourse between peer members (e.g. skaters)
*Image by 22457710@N00 via Flickr
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Disciplines related
to EFL didactics
• Literary studies
Discusses the nature of literary texts as
one form of communication.
*Image by 36959242@N00 via Flickr
Disciplines related
to EFL didactics
• Cultural Studies
Analyzes different cultural phenomena
and the way they represent cultural
meaning. How cultures are defined by
issues of race, gender, and class. Also
considers process of relating different
cultures (intercultural learning)
*Image by 80081757@N00 via Flickr
1. Practice and theory
in EFL teaching
• Teachers often complain in courses: ‘My
course was too theoretical!’
• Many teachers feel practical
• Theory can describe various phenomena in
EFL teaching
• Practice is of limited use without being used
in a theoretical framework.
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1. Practice and theory
in EFL teaching
• You learn about a brainstorming activity
(‘How many things can you think of that …?’)
• If this is all you learn, you’ll only be able to
use it in this particular context
• Theory helps you to understand why this
task is useful
1. Practice and theory
in EFL teaching
• ‘There’s nothing so practical as a good
theory’(Kurt Lewin)
• Good theories generate practice
• Theory helps to critically reflect on
methods
2. Models of teacher
learning
• The craft model
Trainee learns from master
Professional actions seen as a craft
• The applied science model
Trainee studies theoretical courses in applied
linguistics=>methodology applied in classroom
• The reflective model
Trainee observes lessons and reflects on them (with
others). Discusses theories and tries them out in
practice
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3. The ‘what’ of EFL teaching
- Pronunciation
• Concept of pronunciation:
• sounds of the language, or phonology
• stress and rhythm
• intonation
•Practical example (OHT 1)
3. The ‘what’ of EFL teaching
- Pronunciation
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3. The ‘what’ of EFL teaching
- Pronunciation
Why do learners make pronunciation errors?
• a particular sound may not exist in mother tongue,
so learner is not used to forming it and tends to
substitute the nearest equivalent (e.g. /d/ or /z/ for
the English th as in that
• a sound does exist in mother tongue, but not as a
separate phoneme: learner does not perceive it as a
distinct sound that makes a difference to meaning.
In Hebrew, both the / ɪ/ and / iː/ (ship/sheep) sounds
occur, but which is used depends only on where the
sound comes in the word or phrase, not what the
word means
3. The ‘what’ of EFL teaching
- Pronunciation
Ideas for improving learners’ pronunciation
• imitation of teacher or recorded model of sounds,
words and sentences
• Recording of learner speech, contrasted with native
model
• Systematic explanation and instruction (including
details of the structure and movement of parts of the
mouth)
• Imitation drills: repetition of sounds, words and
sentences
• Choral repetition of drills
• Varied repetition of drills (varied speed, volume,
mood)
• Learning and performing dialogues (as with drills)
3. The ‘what’ of EFL teaching
- Pronunciation
Ideas for improving learners’
pronunciation
• learning by heart of sentences,
rhymes, jingles
• Jazz chants
• Tongue twisters (Peter Piper picked a
pack of pickled peppers)
• Self-correction through listening to
recordings of own speech
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3. The ‘what’ of EFL
teaching - Vocabulary
What is vocabulary?
• Words we teach in the foreign language
• New item of vocabulary may be more
than a single word, for example, post
office and mother-in-law
• Also multi-word idioms such as call it a
night
3. The ‘what’ of EFL teaching Vocabulary
What needs to be taught?
• Form: pronunciation and spelling
learner has to know what a word sounds like
and what it looks like; these aspects need to
be presented and learned
• Grammar
Grammar of new item needs to be learned;
Item may have an unpredictable change of
form in certain grammatical contexts (e.g. no
plural forms with advice, information)
3. The ‘what’ of EFL teaching
- Vocabulary
Question:
Can you think of five or six examples of items in the
language
you
teach
whose
grammatical
characteristics are not obviously covered by a regular
grammatical rule, and which you would therefore
need to teach when you teach the item?
One mouse – two mice
I used to play football, I’m used to watching TV
She’s looking forward to going to the movies.
He stopped to smoke vs. he stopped smoking
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3. The ‘what’ of EFL
teaching - Vocabulary
What needs to be taught?
• Aspects of meaning (1): denotation,
connotation, appropriateness
Meaning of a word is what it refers to in the real
world; its denotation; often sort of definition in a
dictionary (dog denotes a kind of animal)
Connotation: associations, or positive or
negative feelings it evokes; dog, as understood
by most British people, has positive connotations
of friendship and loyalty; in Arab countries
negative associations (dirt)
3. The ‘what’ of EFL teaching
- Vocabulary
Appropriateness: if item is the appropriate
one to use in a certain context or not;
important for learner to know that certain
word is very common, or rare, or ‘taboo’ in
polite conversation, or tends to be used in
writing but not in speech.
e.g. weep is synonymous in denotation with
cry, but is more formal, tends to be used in
writing
3. The ‘what’ of EFL teaching
- Vocabulary
What needs to be taught?
Aspects of meaning (2): meaning
relationships
Synonyms: items that mean the same, or
nearly the same; e.g. clever/smart=intelligent
Antonyms: items that mean the opposite; rich is
an antonym of poor;
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The ‘what’ of EFL teaching Vocabulary
• Hyponyms: items that serve as specific
examples of a general concept; dog, lion,
mouse are hyponyms of animals
• Superordinate/hyperonym:
general
concepts that ‘cover’ specific items;
animal is the superordinate of dog, lion,
mouse;
• Translation: words or expressions in the
learners’ mother tongue that are (more or
less) equivalent in meaning to the item
being taught;
3. The ‘what’ of EFL teaching
- Vocabulary
Ways of presenting meaning of new items
•Concise definition
•Illustration (picture, object)
•Demonstration (acting, mime)
•Context (story or sentence in which the items
occurs)
•Synonyms
•Antonyms
•Translation
•Associated ideas, collocations
3. The ‘what’ of EFL teaching
- Vocabulary
Ways of testing/practising new items of
vocabulary
•Practical example (OHT 2, 3)
•Multiple choice
•Matching
•Odd one out
•Writing sentences
•Dictation
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3. The ‘what’ of EFL teaching
- Vocabulary
•Dictation-translation
•Gap-filling (cloze exercise)
•Gap-filling with a pool of
answers
•Translation
•Sentence completion
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3. The ‘what’ of EFL teaching
- Grammar
• Grammar in general
‘The way words are put together to make
correct sentences’. (over-simplification)
Example:
I am a teacher =>grammatical
I a teacher =>not grammatical
3. The ‘what’ of EFL teaching
- Grammar
• Units smaller than a sentence
…can also be grammatical
Example:
A tall woman (sounds right)
A woman tall (does not)
3. The ‘what’ of EFL teaching
- Grammar
• Words
…can also be grammatical
Example:
go=>went (grammatical)
go=>goed (not grammatical)
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3. The ‘what’ of EFL
teaching - Grammar
• Question?
Can you come up with a proper definition of
grammar?
Definition:
Grammar is a set of rules that define how words
(or parts of words) are combined or changed to
form acceptable units of meaning within a
language (Ur, p. 87)
3. The ‘what’ of EFL
teaching - Grammar
• Opinions about the teaching of grammar
Extract 1
The important point is that the study of grammar
as such is neither necessary nor sufficient for
learning to use language. (Newmark, L., p.
165)
Question?
What does the author want to say?
3. The ‘what’ of EFL
teaching - Grammar
• Opinions about the teaching of grammar
Extract 2
The student’s craving for explicit formulization of
generalizations can usually be met better by
textbooks and grammars that he reads outside
class than by discussion in class (ibid.)
Question?
What does the author want to say?
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3. The ‘what’ of EFL
teaching - Grammar
• Guidelines on presenting and explaining a new
grammatical structure
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Oral and written, form and meaning
Contextualized examples of structure; visual
materials
Older or more analytically-minded learners will
benefit more from use of terminology
Do not focus too much on exceptions
Try to sometimes generalize
Inductive/deductive method
3. The ‘what’ of EFL
teaching - Grammar
• Types of grammar practice
Awareness
Introduction to topic=>exercises
e.g. Find past tense forms in the given
article.
3. The ‘what’ of EFL
teaching - Grammar
• Types of grammar practice
Controlled drills
Learners produce examples of structure which
is given in a textbook, etc.
e.g. Write or say statements about John, modeled on the
following example:
John drinks tea but he doesn’t drink coffee.
a) like: ice cream/cake
b) speak: English/Italian
c) enjoy: playing football/playing chess
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3. The ‘what’ of EFL
teaching - Grammar
• Types of grammar practice
Meaningful drills
Responses are very controlled, but learners
can make a limited choice.
e.g. Choose someone you know very well, and
write down their name. Now compose true
statements about them according to the
following model:
He/She likes ice cream; OR He/She doesn’t like ice cream.
a) enjoy: playing tennis
b) drink: wine
c) speak: Polish
3. The ‘what’ of EFL
teaching - Grammar
• Types of grammar practice
• Guided, meaningful practice
Learners form sentences of their own according
to a set pattern, but exactly what vocabulary
they use is up to them.
e.g. Practicing conditional clauses, learners are
given the cue If I had a million dollars, and
suggest, in speech or writing, what they would
do.
3. The ‘what’ of EFL
teaching - Grammar
• Types of grammar practice
• (Structure-based) free sentence
composition
Learners are provided with a visual or
situational cue, and invited to compose their own
responses; they are directed to use the
structure.
e.g. A picture showing a number of people doing
different things is shown to the class; they
describe it using the appropriate tense.
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3. The ‘what’ of EFL
teaching - Grammar
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Types of grammar practice
• (Structure-based) discourse composition
Learners hold a discussion or write a passage
according to a given task; they are directed to use at
least some examples of the structure within the
discourse.
e.g. The class is given a dilemma situation ’You
have seen a good friend cheating in an important
test’) and asked to recommend a solution. They are
directed to include modals (might, should, must,
can, could etc.) in their speech/writing.
3. The ‘what’ of EFL
teaching - Grammar
• Types of grammar practice
• Free discourse
As in (Structure-based) discourse
composition, but learners are given no
specific direction to use the structure;
however, the task situation is such that
instances of it are likely to appear.
e.g. as in (structure-based) discourse
composition, but without the final direction.
Practical example (OHT 4, 5)
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Headphones_1
.jpg
4. The ‘how’ of EFL teaching Teaching listening
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4. The ‘how’ of EFL teaching
- Teaching listening
• The objective of listening comprehensions
Real life situations
Students should learn to function successfully in
real-life listening situations.
•Interview
•Instructions
•Loudspeaker announcements
4. The ‘how’ of EFL teaching –
Teaching listening
•Radio news
•Committee meeting
•Shopping
•Theatre show
•(telephone) chat
•Lesson, lecture
•Conversation, gossip
•TV
•Story-telling
4. The ‘how’ of EFL teaching Teaching listening
• Learner difficulties in listening
Real life situations
•Trouble with sounds
•Have to understand every word
•Can’t understand fast, natural native speech
•Need to hear things more than once
•Find it difficult to keep up
•Get tired
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4. The ‘how’ of EFL teaching
- Teaching listening
• Types of activities
1. No overt response
•Stories (joke, real-life anecdote, story from
book, etc.)
•Songs (sing a song, play one, etc.). LINK
LYRICS
•Entertainment: films, theatre, video
(motivational reasons)
4. The ‘how’ of EFL teaching
- Teaching listening
• Types of activities
2. Short responses
•Obeying instructions
•Ticking off items
•True/false
•Detecting mistakes
•Cloze
•Guessing definitions
•Skimming and scanning
•Ordering
•Matching/dragging
4. The ‘how’ of EFL teaching
-Teaching listening
• Types of activities
3. Longer responses
•Answering questions
•Note-taking
•Paraphrasing and translating
•Summarizing
•Long gap-filling
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4. The ‘how’ of EFL teaching
- Teaching listening
• Types of activities
4. Extended responses
•Problem-solving
•Interpretation
•Practical example (OHT 6)
4. The ‘how’ of EFL teaching Teaching speaking
*Image by 10228722@N02 via Flickr
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4. The ‘how’ of EFL teaching
- Teaching speaking
• Characteristics of a successful
speaking activity
•Learners talk a lot
•Participation is even
•Motivation is high
•Language is of an acceptable level
4. The ‘how’ of EFL teaching
- Teaching speaking
Problems with speaking activities
•Inhibition
•Nothing to say
•Low or uneven participation
•Mother-tongue use
4. The ‘how’ of EFL teaching Teaching speaking
Problems solved?
•Use group work
•Base the activity on easy language
•Careful choice of topic
•Give instruction or training in
discussion skills
•Keep students speaking the target
language
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4. The ‘how’ of EFL teaching
- Teaching speaking
Possible activities (summary)
•Describing pictures
•Picture differences
•Things in common
•Shopping list
•Solving a problem
•Interactional talk
•Long turns
•Varied situations, feelings, relationships
•Role play
•Practical example (OHT 7)
4. The ‘how’ of EFL teaching Teaching reading
4. The ‘how’ of EFL teaching Teaching reading
Types of reading activities
•Answering comprehension questions
•Pre-questions
•Do-it-yourself questions
•Provide a title
•Summarize
•Continue
•Preface
•Gapped text
•Mistakes in the text
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4. The ‘how’ of EFL teaching Teaching reading
Types of reading activities
•Comparison
•Responding
•Re-presentation of content
•Practical examples (OHT 8)
4. The ‘how’ of EFL teaching
- Teaching writing
4. The ‘how’ of EFL teaching
- Teaching writing
Criteria for the evaluation of writing
activities
•Motivating, stimulating and
interesting?
•Appropriate level
(easy/difficult/childish/sophisticated?)
•Preliminary teaching?
•Do I like this activity?
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4. The ‘how’ of EFL teaching
- Teaching writing
Writing as a means or as an end?
•As a means
Means for engaging with aspects of
language (vocab, grammar, etc.)
•As an end
Main objective: the writing itself;
macro level=>content and
organization
4. The ‘how’ of EFL teaching Teaching writing
Writing as a means or as an end?
•As both means and end
Learning skill and content. E.g.: written
response to the reading of a
controversial newspaper article
(combines writing with reading)
4. The ‘how’ of EFL teaching
- Teaching writing
Possible writing tasks
•Book report
•Book review
•Instruction sheet
•Narrative
•Personal story
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4. The ‘how’ of EFL
teaching - Teaching writing
Possible writing tasks
•Describe a view
•Describe someone
•Answer a letter
•Job application
•News report
4. The ‘how’ of EFL teaching Teaching writing
Possible writing tasks
•Ideal school
•Film music
5. The syllabus
(Lehrplan)
Common characteristics
•Comprehensive list of content items (words, structures,
topics) and process items (tasks, methods)
•Ordered
•Explicit objectives
•Public document
•Time schedule
•Indicates preferred methodology/approach
•Recommends materials
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5. The syllabus
(Lehrplan)
Features
•Grammatical
•Lexical
•Grammatical-lexical
•Situational
•Topic-based
•Notional
•Functional-notional
6. FAQs
• Q1: Should I speak German in an EFL lesson?
• Q2: How should I deal with mistakes? Should I
correct mistakes?
• Q3: What if I did not do all the tasks in the
textbook?
• Q4: What to do if my students always speak
German in group work, etc.?
Where to get useful stuff
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www.learning-reloaded.com
ÖBV Hegelgasse 14, 1010 Wien
www.britishcouncil.org
American Reference Centre
http://austria.usembassy.gov/arc.html
• http://wagner-juergen.de/englisch/
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Useful resources
• http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com Sean Banville: Free,
13-Page, Ready-to-Print EFL/ESL Lesson Plans on
Current Events
• http://jeffreyhill.typepad.com Jeffrey Hill: The English
Blog: Internet resources, reviews, news, tips and trivia for
learners and teachers of English
• http://www.jochenenglish.de JochenEnglish: Blog von
Jochen Lüders (München)
• http://efllecturer.blogspot.com The Lecturer's EFL SMART
blog: EFL, ESL and ESOL learning activities for smart
students of English
• http://random-idea-english.blogspot.com Random Idea
English: a mishmash of lessons, exercises and the
occasional opinionated rant about the English language
• http://efl-resource.com TEFL resources and lesson ideas
• http://eslclassroomactivities.wordpress.com ESL
Classroom Activities and More.
• http://rosa58.blogspot.com English all over
• http://www.wagner-juergen.de/englisch/ Great collection
of EFL-links
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/ BBC’s
English learning site
• http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en / Learning English
British council
• http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/ Learning
English Kids British council
• http://daily-english-activities.blogspot.com Nik's Daily
English Activities | For English language and digital
literacy skills.
• http://www.elementalenglish.com Elemental English:
Teaching the English of everyday life
• http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/ British Council
Teaching English
• http://www.eslcafe.com / (extensive collection of various
exercises)
• http://www.onestopenglish.com (many exercises for
TEFL teachers)
• http://www.eslbase.com/ (nice choice of activities)
• http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/ Websites of the day for
EFL teachers, Larry Ferlazzo
• http://community.eflclassroom.com/ EFL material
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More useful links
• Short Stories (British Council):
http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/sh
ort-stories
• Songs/Videos: www.youtube.com (keyword:
lyrics, karaoke)
• Songfacts: www.songfacts.com
(additional) list of
references
• Mackey, William Francis: “Applied Linguistics.” In:
Reading for Applied Linguistics. The Edinburgh
Course in Applied Linguistics. Eds.: J.P.B. Allen & S.
Pit Corder. Vo. 1 (1973). P. 247-255
• Cook, Guy: Applied Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford UP
2003.
• Newmark, L. ‘How not to interfere with language
learning’ in Brumfit, C.J. and Johnson, K. (eds.) The
Communicative Approach to Language Teaching,
Oxford University Press, 1979, p. 165
Images
• Brainstorming:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2007-07-13brainstorming.gif
• Dictionary entry „nailcan“
http://www.anu.edu.au/andc/pubs/ozwords/June2002/
nailcan.JPG
• Picture dictionary „Xylophone“
http://www.anu.edu.au/andc/pubs/ozwords/June2002/
nailcan.JPG
• All the other images, videos from www.flickR.com
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Images
• Parrot: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jhyHOjdV6Zc/SwJiepUOVI/AAAAAAAAAPA/IvEIrz2stMc/s1600/parrot.
gif
• Vocabulary:
http://www.frenchtutorial.com/standard/images/voca
bulary_big.gif
• Owl: http://www.lib.uct.ac.za/infolit/owl-reading.gif
• Writing:
http://oxleylearning.org/germandictionary/wpcontent/uploads/2008/12/writing.jpg
Useful links
• Short Stories (British Council):
http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/shor
t-stories
• Songs/Videos: www.youtube.com (keyword:
lyrics, karaoke)
• Songfacts: www.songfacts.com
Thomas Strasser (2012)
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