Learning Methodology Articles and Information

ESL/EFL Articles- Teaching Methodology

Articles for the English Teaching Community

ESL, The silent Way, 99%STT

Remember the rule of 25% TTT and 75% STT? In case you dont know what Im talking about, it means that a teacher should talk only 25% of the time during a good ESL lesson. TTT = Teacher Talk Time, and STT = Student Talk Time. In the early days of my ESL teaching career, I found this impossible to achieve, in fact I found it really difficult to get students to speak for 25% of the time! Have you found the same problem? Do you have a solution?...
Framework for Bridging Theory and Practical Application in the ESL Classroom

The methods employed by teachers in the modern second language (L2) classrooms are based on the various beliefs that an individual teacher has about language, language learning and language teaching. These beliefs are reflections of L2 theories about language acquisition and learning that, like the methods employed, have changed considerably over recent years. There has been a drift away from a teacher centered style of pedagogy towards a communicative approach to language learning. This is in order to prepare students for effective real word communication in the TL....
Memory and Attention in Children

What is the relationship between Memory and Attention in the classroom? As a teacher, it is important to maintain the child's attention, but does memory have a co-existence in this field? Attention is seen as being important because, "we do not pay close attention to much of the information to which we are exposed, typically only scant mental processing takes place, and we forget new material almost immediately".
Touchy - Feely (Concrete vs. Abstract)
Ever wonder why kids hang on to their teddy bears, binkies, blankies, etc. for so long? Have you ever wondered why they don't understand a story you've told them? Because kids are touchy-feely! Children do not actually understand abstract ideas until around age 8. They will be able to pay lip service to something abstract earlier, but most don't actually understand the concept until around age 8.
Teaching Centered vs. Learning Centered

Are we transitioning from a teaching centered system to a learning centered system...should we be?
An Analysis of Teaching Behaviors That are Ineffective in Teaching Learning Process

Teaching is always a dynamic activity. It unfolds a world of knowledge and information, experience and erudition (Chakrabarti, 1998). Effective teaching requires more than straightforward teaching methods. Teachers need to know their students well and be able to adapt their teaching styles to a particular classroom and to individual students. (Elliott et al, 2000).
Oppositional Defiant (ODD) Students: Must Have Methods

If you are a teacher who finds that "nothing works" to manage some students, this article may help. It's way past time for you to learn about ODD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder.
The Roots of Academic Dishonesty Lie in the Deficiency of Educational System

Academic dishonesty includes cheating and plagiarism, the theft of ideas and other forms of intellectual property that occur within an educational setting. In high school, a standard penalty for academic dishonesty is a failing grade, while in college it can result in expulsion. The most widely spread forms of academic dishonesty are cheating and plagiarism.
Randomizing Class Choices: Breaking Up the Monotony

Much has been said and written lately about providing students with choices. I'm all about any methods which will improve student involvement in class, giving them ownership in their learning. There are many ways to give students choices, options, or just to provide random results and change up the monotony.
Discover 7 Essential Core Teaching Strategies You Need to Become a Terrific Teacher
At times, teachers may feel inundated with theories, methodologies, teaching strategies, etc. Please keep in mind that this is your class, your students and only YOU know your own limits. As I have told my student teachers, and new or inexperienced teachers that I have mentored...
What Do High Tech and Traditional ESL Teaching Methods Do For Students? Accelerate Their Learning!
The newest is always the best or so many people believe but what if we took the best of the old and combined it with new technology to deliver it? For literally thousands of years there were only a few teaching methodologies for foreign language education. Then with the advent of world war two there was suddenly a need to teach foreign languages to large numbers of people in a very short period of time.
A Role Play Activity with Distance Learners in an English Language Classroom

In recent years, language teaching has focused on the learning process rather than the teaching of the language. The emphasis is not only on linguistic competence of the language learners but also on the development of their communicative ability. In order to develop the learners' communicative ability, the teacher needs to create a scenario to teach the target language in a vibrant, active and interesting manner.
Memory-Friendly Teaching

The children you teach are already learning, but would you like to help them even more, especially those who seem to be struggling? It's no secret that some children learn much faster than others and that this soon leads to imbalanced levels among classmates.
Understanding By Design - The Way I Understand It (Part One)

A short article on how to go about preparing instructional programs utilizing the Jay McTighe's and Grant Wiggins Understanding By Design. Understanding by Design is a new approach to the teaching/learning process by utilizing an entirely new, but very effective model - Backward Design.
TO 3D OR NOT TO 3D

This is a short follow-up to a previous article on the viability of virtual worlds as language learning/teaching platforms, in specific Second Life. Focus here is the use of SL (Second Life) as a component of blended learning. http://eslarticle.com/pub/articles/english-as-a-second-language-esl/virtual-world-scepticism-792.htm
The Two - Minute Teaching Tip - Fighting Fear!

Your students are deathly afraid of making mistakes and looking stupid in front of their peers. Failure hurts...especially at school...especially in front of their friends. Were you ever humiliated in front of your classmates? I was. It still hurts!
Anchor Activities Allow Teachers to Work With Small Groups

Anchor activities are student centered activities that are designed to extend and review already learned skills. These activities are ongoing assignments that are self-directed. In other words, the students work on these activities independently throughout a given unit.
Visualization- An Essential Method For Teaching Modern Languages

In order to make a language class successful one has to try to match its content with various methods aiming to make studying exciting and engaging. The usage of modern technological equipment ought to be taken in consideration when preparing teaching materials for a language course.
Using Differentiated Instruction Activities to Meet the Needs of ALL Your Students

I am always amazed at the range of ability levels of my students within any given class. Within one 8th grade class I may have students who struggle to read and write while at the same time have students (within the same class) who are reading and writing on an upper high school level.
15 reasons why PPP is so unfashionable

Anyone who has ever taught using the technique of presenting the language, practising it in a controlled way and then giving students the chance to use it in a free communication production activity will know that it is far from a perfect method, and some of the legitimate attacks on its theory and practice are...
Learning Centered Education - Encouraging Student Responsibility For Learning
Accepting responsibility for their own learning can be a significant challenge to students. This is especially a problem if they have grown up in a school system that had an emphasis on objective testing against nation-wide standards.
Increasing Voice and Education - Creating a Learning Centered Syllabus
American higher education is shifting from a focus on what teachers teach to what learners learn. The role of teachers is shifting from one of disseminator of knowledge to facilitator of learning. One of the ways that we can encourage the shift to occur is in the construction of learning centered syllabi.
Raise Student Achievement in the Classroom

The focus in schools today is to raise achievement among our students. While that is an admirable goal, I suggest that schools evaluate what they are already doing well. Then, get rid of those less important strategies and focus on those that are really working.
Why 1-1 Class Support For Kids is Usually Wrong & Why Classroom Assistants Must Learn to Do Nothing!

What's this -- classroom assistants must learn to do nothing? Is this crazy talk or what? No, not crazy -- totally serious. It's is often extremely beneficial when managing children's behaviour to stand back and do nothing.
How Does the Montessori Curriculum Differ From Traditional Schools?

Overall, the main way in which Montessori children differ from traditional students is that Montessori children love to learn. They do not memorize facts and figures for the purposes of passing a test or pleasing adults. It is that passionate love for learning which separates Montessori students from traditional students.